U-23s lose in Olympic qualifier

NAMIBIA’S under-23 national football side lost 1-0 to South Africa in their Olympic qualifier played at the Olen Park Stadium in Potchefstroom yesterday.

South Africa scored through Masilo Modubi just six minutes before the half-time whistle. Namibian coach Bobby Samaria blamed the loss of his team on the fact that they firstly gave the goal to the South Africans on a ‘golden platter’, while they also allowed the opposition to penetrate their defence from the wings.”We invited South Africa from the wings and they made good use of their chances in coming at us,” he said.Samaria said his side’s strategy was to close the home side’s midfield, but they did not have much success.He said the Namibians had several chances to utilise, but failed to put them away.He said he was looking forward to the return leg in Windhoek on October 2, a match in which he anticipates his charges to attack from the onset.In yesterday’s match, the Namibian backline showed their mettle by keeping the marauding South Africa strikers at bay, but failed to deliver upfront, where striker Lazarus Kaimbi was overshadowed by his taller opponents.The Namibian wasted two clear chances in front of goal in the second half, a situation that exposed their lack of composure in front of goal.The Namibian side entered the match having performed excellently in Luanda, Angola, during a Four Nations tournament there.The Namibians beat Tanzania 3-0 and drew zero-all against Angola and two-all against Mozambique in that tournament played at the end of last month.*Meanwhile Angola beat Swaziland 2-0 at the start of their 2008 African Nations Cup qualifying campaign, making a comfortable winning return after the World Cup.Using the bulk of the squad that played at the World Cup finals, Angola took the lead in the 21st minute when a wild shot from defender Jamba took a wicked deflection off Swazi full back Sipho Gumbi and flew into the goal.Angola’s second came 10 minutes from time when defender Loco was first to slide in a corner that the Swazi defence failed to clear.Angola could have won by more had strikers Flavio and Mantorras made better use of their chances.Benfica striker Mantorras, given a rare starting berth in the Angolan side, missed a wide open chance in the 39th minute and was taken off early in the second half.Flavio, who plays at African club champions Al Ahli of Egypt, went wide with two close-range headers.Swazi striker Sibusiso Dlamini and Siza Dlamini both had difficult shots saved by Angola’s goalkeeper Lama.In their match late yesterday, Namibia lost 3-2 to DRC in their Nations Cup qualifier played in Kinshasa.The half time score was 1-1.Namibia will play their return leg in Windhoek later in October.Namibian coach Bobby Samaria blamed the loss of his team on the fact that they firstly gave the goal to the South Africans on a ‘golden platter’, while they also allowed the opposition to penetrate their defence from the wings.”We invited South Africa from the wings and they made good use of their chances in coming at us,” he said.Samaria said his side’s strategy was to close the home side’s midfield, but they did not have much success.He said the Namibians had several chances to utilise, but failed to put them away.He said he was looking forward to the return leg in Windhoek on October 2, a match in which he anticipates his charges to attack from the onset.In yesterday’s match, the Namibian backline showed their mettle by keeping the marauding South Africa strikers at bay, but failed to deliver upfront, where striker Lazarus Kaimbi was overshadowed by his taller opponents.The Namibian wasted two clear chances in front of goal in the second half, a situation that exposed their lack of composure in front of goal.The Namibian side entered the match having performed excellently in Luanda, Angola, during a Four Nations tournament there.The Namibians beat Tanzania 3-0 and drew zero-all against Angola and two-all against Mozambique in that tournament played at the end of last month.*Meanwhile Angola beat Swaziland 2-0 at the start of their 2008 African Nations Cup qualifying campaign, making a comfortable winning return after the World Cup.Using the bulk of the squad that played at the World Cup finals, Angola took the lead in the 21st minute when a wild shot from defender Jamba took a wicked deflection off Swazi full back Sipho Gumbi and flew into the goal.Angola’s second came 10 minutes from time when defender Loco was first to slide in a corner that the Swazi defence failed to clear.Angola could have won by more had strikers Flavio and Mantorras made better use of their chances.Benfica striker Mantorras, given a rare starting berth in the Angolan side, missed a wide open chance in the 39th minute and was taken off early in the second half.Flavio, who plays at African club champions Al Ahli of Egypt, went wide with two close-range headers.Swazi striker Sibusiso Dlamini and Siza Dlamini both had difficult shots saved by Angola’s goalkeeper Lama.In their match late yesterday, Namibia lost 3-2 to DRC in their Nations Cup qualifier played in Kinshasa.The half time score was 1-1.Namibia will play their return leg in Windhoek later in October.