Burkina Faso 1998THE Brave Warriors made history on 27 July 1997 when they qualified for their first ever Afcon finals after holding Gabon to a 1-1 draw in front of 20 000 Gabonese fans in Libreville.
Namibia needed at least a draw to qualify with group winners, Cameroon, and got off to a poor start as Gabon won a dubious penalty and their captain Pierre Francois Aubameyang sent Namibian keeper Ronnie Kanalelo the wrong way to put the hosts 1-0 ahead.
(Interestingly, Aubameyang, is the father of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon’s current superstar who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League.)
The Brave Warriors stepped up the tempo after the break and 15 minutes into the second half they won a penalty after striker Gerros Urikhob was fouled in the box.
The young midfielder Congo Hindjou – then only 20 years old – stepped up to take the spot kick and displaying nerves of steel put the ball into the left hand corner to grab the precious equaliser and Namibia’s first ever ticket to the Afcon finals.
Cameroon finished on top of their group in the qualifying campaign with 10 points, followed by Namibia on eight, Gabon on seven and Kenya on five.
Earlier in their campaign Namibia beat Kenya 1-0 at home and away; lost 4-0 away and 1-0 at home to Cameroon; and drew 1-1 against Gabon at home.
Coach Rusten Mogane and technical advisor Peter Ueberjahn presided over that squad – largely a young, and inexperienced one – but they would go on to rewrite the record books.
The young Hindjou would become Namibia’s most capped player (before current captain Ronald Ketjijere recently broke his record), while other players who would become stalwarts for Namibia for many years included Mohammed Ouseb, Lolo Goraseb, Ronnie Kanalelo, Robert Nauseb, Eliphas Shivute, and Namibia’s current coach, Ricardo Mannetti.
The Comeback Kings
At the Afcon finals in Burkina Faso they were drawn in a tough group along with the Ivory Coast, Angola and South Africa.
Their opening encounter against the Ivory Coast on 8 February started off disastrously as they went 1-0 behind to a Joel Tiehi goal after only two minutes, but it got worse as a second Tiehi goal and another by Ibrahima Bakayoko put the Ivory Coast in a commanding 3-0 lead at half time.
Namibia, however, started a brilliant comeback, when Shivute sent in a bullet header from a cross by Sandro de Gouveia only a minute after the restart.
Namibia grew in stature and on 70 minutes, Shivute turned provider from a corner, heading the ball on to Mannetti who blasted the ball high into the net. Suddenly the stadium was alight, with the 35 000 fans firmly behind the Brave Warriors and they didn’t disappoint as Shivute headed in the equaliser three minutes later.
The fans went wild and Namibia pushed hard for the winner, but fatigue caught up with them and Lassina Diabate scored the winner from an 83rd minute free kick.
Namibia lost the match, but they had announced their arrival on the African stage and the international media soon dubbed them the ‘Comeback Kings.’
Angola make a comeback
In their next match against Angola four days later, the rolls were reversed as Angola launched a great comeback to draw 3-3, after Namibia had taken a 3-1 lead early in the second half.
Urikhob put Namibia ahead on 20 minutes when he beat the offside trap, rounded the goal keeper and put the ball into an empty net.
Thirteen minutes later it was 2-0, when Robert Nauseb scored after receiving a great through ball from Congo Hindjou.
Angola opened their account a minute after the restart when Lazaro stabbed in a loose ball, but five minutes later it was 3-1 after Shivute was fouled outside the box and Urikhob smashed the free kick into the corner of the net.
Namibia however failed to press home their advantage and allowed Angola to get back into the match.
Midway through the second half they won a penalty for a foul in the box and Paulo Silva sent Kanalelo the wrong way to make the score 3-2.
Angola continued to attack and with four minutes to go Miguel Pereira scored the equaliser from a quick counterattack.
The Benny McCarthy Show
It was a disappointing end for Namibia, but they had gained their first point at Afcon and approached their final match against South Africa in confident mood. Less than a month before they had stunned Bafana Bafana with a 3-2 victory in a Cosafa Cup match in Windhoek, and were keen to pull another victory over their southern African neighbours.
He opened his account after only eight minutes and three minutes later it was 2-0 after another clinical strike.
McCarthy was in irresistible form and another two goals in quick succession put South Africa 4-0 ahead after only 21 minutes.
The match was as good as over, but Namibia did not give up and a cracking shot by China Uutoni midway through the second half made the final score 4-1.
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