Namibia draws final Afcon game

THE Brave Warriors kept their promise of finishing their 2008 Africa Cup of Nations campaign on a high by dishing out a very inspiring 1-1 draw against Guinea in their final Group A encounter at Sekondi, Ghana, on Monday night.

The closely-contested encounter saw Namibia cancelling out Naby Soumah’s 62nd minute opening goal for Guinea through the lethal boot of tenacious midfielder Brian Brendell to level the scores in the 81st minute. Arie Schans’ charges may have finished rock bottom of their group, but the team will long be remembered for their stout performances against Ghana and Guinea, respectively.Despite entering the field with only one player, Collin ‘Chippa’ Benjamin, with vast international experience, the Brave Warriors frustrated the might of Ghana during what was labelled as a mismatch by many soccer pundits turned into one of the most exciting encounters of Group A.A lot of people, who watched Namibia succumbing 5-1 to Morocco in their opening match, expected another goal avalanche from the Black Stars of Ghana, who are led by midfield maestro Michael Essien of Chelsea FC in England.But little did they know what Namibia had in store for them and they did obviously not consider the fact that their opponents are not known as the Brave Warriors for nothing.The rest, as they say, is history as Ghana, and their fans in particular, did not take into account the fighting spirit of the young Namibian outfit, which was assembled with the main aim of qualifying Namibia for the 2010 World Cup.The Brave Warriors have certainly played their way into the hearts of many of the compatriots of whom some even have the arrogance of declaring the team to be ready to qualify for the South Africa-hosted epic world football event.The draw means Guinea recorded five points from three matches to join hosts Ghana, who topped the group with the maximum nine points courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Morocco, into the knock-out stage of the tournament.Morocco placed third on three points.The Guineans also made it to the last eight of the biennial competition two years ago in Egypt.It took the Syli Nationale of Guinea about an hour before they found the back of the Namibian net.Soumah got to the end of a Dioulde Bah’s through ball before he slotted home to put Guinea in front.Namibia, appearing in only their second Nations Cup final, made three changes to the starting team against Ghana while Guinea came into this decisive Group A match without their influential skipper Pascal Feinduno after his red card against Morocco.Favourites Guinea pressed forward against the Brave Warriors of Namibia from the blast of the whistle.Ismael Bangoura first volleyed wide before Daouda Jabi tested Mbaha with a 30-yard shot, which the Namibia goalkeeper saved.On 15 minutes, Namibia also created their own chance on the break but Muna Kaupose failed to make the most of a six-yard cross from the hard working Brian Brendell.Guinea kept going at Namibia and in the 31st minute Mamadou Dioulde Bah came close to opening scores only for Mbaha, who is clinically deaf, to deny him with a good save.The Brave Warriors looked dangerous on the counter attack and almost caught out their west African foes three minutes later but Germany-based midfielder Collin Benjamin hit his shot against the side netting from a difficult angle.The Namibians restored some pride when they cancelled out Soumah’s 62nd-minute goal nine minutes from the end through a Brendell low strike from outside the area.With a little bit of luck and better finishing the lowest ranked team at the tournament would even have won this encounter as they finished the game the stronger of the two teams.Additional reporting by Nampa-AFPArie Schans’ charges may have finished rock bottom of their group, but the team will long be remembered for their stout performances against Ghana and Guinea, respectively.Despite entering the field with only one player, Collin ‘Chippa’ Benjamin, with vast international experience, the Brave Warriors frustrated the might of Ghana during what was labelled as a mismatch by many soccer pundits turned into one of the most exciting encounters of Group A.A lot of people, who watched Namibia succumbing 5-1 to Morocco in their opening match, expected another goal avalanche from the Black Stars of Ghana, who are led by midfield maestro Michael Essien of Chelsea FC in England.But little did they know what Namibia had in store for them and they did obviously not consider the fact that their opponents are not known as the Brave Warriors for nothing.The rest, as they say, is history as Ghana, and their fans in particular, did not take into account the fighting spirit of the young Namibian outfit, which was assembled with the main aim of qualifying Namibia for the 2010 World Cup.The Brave Warriors have certainly played their way into the hearts of many of the compatriots of whom some even have the arrogance of declaring the team to be ready to qualify for the South Africa-hosted epic world football event.The draw means Guinea recorded five points from three matches to join hosts Ghana, who topped the group with the maximum nine points courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Morocco, into the knock-out stage of the tournament.Morocco placed third on three points.The Guineans also made it to the last eight of the biennial competition two years ago in Egypt.It took the Syli Nationale of Guinea about an hour before they found the back of the Namibian net.Soumah got to the end of a Dioulde Bah’s through ball before he slotted home to put Guinea in front.Namibia, appearing in only their second Nations Cup final, made three changes to the starting team against Ghana while Guinea came into this decisive Group A match without their influential skipper Pascal Feinduno after his red card against Morocco.Favourites Guinea pressed forward against the Brave Warriors of Namibia from the blast of the whistle.Ismael Bangoura first volleyed wide before Daouda Jabi tested Mbaha with a 30-yard shot, which the Namibia goalkeeper saved.On 15 minutes, Namibia also created their own chance on the break but Muna Kaupose failed to make the most of a six-yard cross from the hard working Brian Brendell.Guinea kept going at Namibia and in the 31st minute Mamadou Dioulde Bah came close to opening scores only for Mbaha, who is clinically deaf, to deny him with a good save.The Brave Warriors looked dangerous on the counter attack and almost caught out their west African foes three minutes later but Germany-based midfielder Collin Benjamin hit his shot against the side netting from a difficult angle.The Namibians restored some pride when they cancelled out Soumah’s 62nd-minute goal nine minutes from the end through a Brendell low strike from outside the area.With a little bit of luck and better finishing the lowest ranked team at the tournament would even have won this encounter as they finished the game the stronger of the two teams.Additional reporting by Nampa-AFP