Warriors into Nations Cup

NAMIBIA will be at the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana! That´s official.

The Brave Warriors secured a last-minute goal through young striker Muna Katupose to land a place in Africa’s biggest football tournament on Saturday as they beat Ethiopia 2-3 in Addis Ababa. Katupose, who was only playing in his fourth match for the national team, was the happiest man after the match and at the age only 20 years, he will remember that last-gasp goal for the rest of his life.The match also saw Eleven Arrows chief predator Rudolf Bester scoring twice, putting him among the leading scorers for the side in recent times.The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) drew 1-1 against Libya on the same day and thus failed to qualify automatically and will be hoping to be considered as one of the best losers in that group.Only three best losers will be considered to form part of the last 16, as only 12 places were up for grabs for automatic qualifiers.The best three losers will fill the three other spots, with Ghana already taking a place as hosts.Ethiopia opened the scoring through Birhanu Bogale with just a minute to go into the break, but Bester equalised in the 70th minute after a fine pass through the middle from Meraai Swartbooi.Quinton Jacobs and Swartbooi were the biggest threats in the game for the local side and their vision and clever play helped Namibia greatly in most of their moves.Ethiopia, with a partisan crowd that cheered them all the way, managed to get their second goal through Salhadin Said in the 73rd minute, a goal that virtually broke the morale of the visitors as they defended exceptionally well, with Ramblers defender Michael Pienaar always in the thick of things.Despite that, the Namibians picked up their game and with consistent threats at the Ethiopian goal, Bester managed to equalise again in the 81st minute after a rebound from the Ethiopian goalie, a goal that gave the visitors much hope as they played with more confidence.The decider came just in time for the young Katupose, who put it away in the 90th minute after a sweet through-pass from Jacobs, to ensure Namibia a famous victory for a passage to the finals of the biggest football tournament on the continent.It is Namibia’s second qualification for the African Nations Cup in 10 years – they last took part in the continental showpiece in 1998.In the 1998 tournament held in Burkina Faso, Namibia caused mayhem against African football powerhouse Ivory Coast in the opening match, as they came back to level the match after they were 3-0 down at half-time.The Brave Warriors lifted themselves greatly in the second half of that match and managed to score three goals, only to go down 4-3 in the final minute of the match.In that memorable match, midfielder Ricardo Mannetti scored once and striker Eliphas Shivute twice.Both players have since retired.That match is still remembered as one of the greatest comebacks by a side which was considered the whipping boys of the tournament.In their last qualification match to the 1998 event, Namibia needed a point and that they got that in their game against Gabon, despite a 1-all draw in the end.Former Warriors midfield maestro Congo Hindjou scored through penalty away, but in Namibia’s home-leg, Gabon was beaten 1-0 at the Independence Stadium.Gabon was at the time was one of the strongest teams on the continent and Namibia held out superbly with their likes of Mannetti, Shivute, Mohamed Ouseb, Robert Nauseb, Ronnie Kanalelo, Gerros Witbeen, Lolo Goraseb, China Uutoni, Phillip Gariseb, Bimbo Tjihero and several others.On Saturday’s match, Katupose, who plays for lower division side Epupa Eleven from the Kunene Region, scored only his second goal for the Warriors, after his first was against Malawi during the Cosafa Castle Cup early this year.Katupose is the identical twin brother of Tara, who was also part of the team to Ethiopia.Both play for the same team back home.The two youngsters initially made their mark at the 2002 edition of The Namibian Newspaper Cup in Otjiwarongo.Warriors head coach Ben Bamfuchile in his selections has insisted that the two youngsters be part of the Warriors to get used to playing conditions on international level because of their talent.With that win Namibia has gained a total of 10 points, giving them an automatic entry after a total of 6 matches.DRC ended on 9 points after their 6 matches, with Libya third with 8 points and Ethiopia at the bottom of the base with 6 points.In their qualification route, Namibia were first beaten 3-2 by DRC away, before they beat Ethiopia 1-0 at home.They then went on to lose 2-1 against Libya away, before they beat Libya 1-0 at home.Namibia obtained a 1-all draw against DRC at home and finished off with Ethiopia with a 3-2 victory on Saturday to qualify.Katupose, who was only playing in his fourth match for the national team, was the happiest man after the match and at the age only 20 years, he will remember that last-gasp goal for the rest of his life.The match also saw Eleven Arrows chief predator Rudolf Bester scoring twice, putting him among the leading scorers for the side in recent times.The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) drew 1-1 against Libya on the same day and thus failed to qualify automatically and will be hoping to be considered as one of the best losers in that group.Only three best losers will be considered to form part of the last 16, as only 12 places were up for grabs for automatic qualifiers.The best three losers will fill the three other spots, with Ghana already taking a place as hosts.Ethiopia opened the scoring through Birhanu Bogale with just a minute to go into the break, but Bester equalised in the 70th minute after a fine pass through the middle from Meraai Swartbooi.Quinton Jacobs and Swartbooi were the biggest threats in the game for the local side and their vision and clever play helped Namibia greatly in most of their moves.Ethiopia, with a partisan crowd that cheered them all the way, managed to get their second goal through Salhadin Said in the 73rd minute, a goal that virtually broke the morale of the visitors as they defended exceptionally well, with Ramblers defender Michael Pienaar always in the thick of things.Despite that, the Namibians picked up their game and with consistent threats at the Ethiopian goal, Bester managed to equalise again in the 81st minute after a rebound from the Ethiopian goalie, a goal that gave the visitors much hope as they played with more confidence.The decider came just in time for the young Katupose, who put it away in the 90th minute after a sweet through-pass from Jacobs, to ensure Namibia a famous victory for a passage to the finals of the biggest football tournament on the continent.It is Namibia’s second qualification for the African Nations Cup in 10 years – they last took part in the continental showpiece in 1998.In the 1998 tournament held in Burkina Faso, Namibia caused mayhem against African football powerhouse Ivory Coast in the opening match, as they came back to level the match after they were 3-0 down at half-time.The Brave Warriors lifted themselves greatly in the second half of that match and managed to score three goals, only to go down 4-3 in the final minute of the match.In that memorable match, midfielder Ricardo Mannetti scored once and striker Eliphas Shivute twice.Both players have since retired.That match is still remembered as one of the greatest comebacks by a side which was considered the whipping boys of the tournament.In their last qualification match to the 1998 event, Namibia needed a point and that they got that in their game against Gabon, despite a 1-all draw in the end.Former Warriors midfield maestro Congo Hindjou scored through penalty away, but in Namibia’s home-leg, Gabon was beaten 1-0 at the Independence Stadium.Gabon was at the time was one of the strongest teams on the continent and Namibia held out superbly with their likes of Mannetti, Shivute, Mohamed Ouseb, Robert Nauseb, Ronnie Kanalelo, Gerros Witbeen, Lolo Goraseb, China Uutoni, Phillip Gariseb, Bimbo Tjihero and several others.On Saturday’s match, Katupose, who plays for lower division side Epupa Eleven from the Kunene Region, scored only his second goal for the Warriors, after his first was against Malawi during the Cosafa Castle Cup early this year.Katupose is the identical twin brother of Tara, who was also part of the team to Ethiopia.Both play for the same team back home.The two youngsters initially made their mark at the 2002 edition of The Namibian Newspaper Cup in Otjiwarongo.Warriors head coach Ben Bamfuchile in his selections has insisted that the two youngsters be part of the Warriors to get used to playing conditions on international level because of their talent.With that win Namibia has gained a total of 10 points, giving them an automatic entry after a total of 6 matches.DRC ended on 9 points after their 6 matches, with Libya third with 8 points and Ethiopia at the bottom of the base with 6 points.In their qualification route, Namibia were first beaten 3-2 by DRC away, before they beat Ethiopia 1-0 at home.They then went on to lose 2-1 against Libya away, before they beat Libya 1-0 at home.Namibia obtained a 1-all draw against DRC at home and finished off with Ethiopia with a 3-2 victory on Saturday to qualify.