Warriors out of Cosafa Cup

A gallant effort from the Brave Warriors in the second half felt just short of forcing a draw against the much fancied Angolan side in Luanda yesterday.

The Brave Warriors were knocked out of the Cosafa Cup when the fell 2 – 1 to Angola at Luanda’s Estadio Nacional de Cdadela. The home side led 1-0 at half time with Love opening the account for the home side in the 26th minute, before adding the second goal midway through the second half to increase the scoreline to 2-0.Namibia’s Jason Petrus, who obtained his second cap in the match on the day, broke the ice for Namibia with a superb free kick from at least 40 metres to give the Brave Warriors their only goal of the match.The goal by Petrus lifted the play among the Warriors who kept on pushing forward, but their efforts were thwarted by the Angolan defence which was more organised than that of the visitors.Namibia are now out of the annual competition, being knocked-out five times in a row, first by Zimbabwe in 2000, followed by Mauritius in 2001, then by Swaziland the following year, before Botswana took the opportunity in 2003.Yesterday’s defeat also leave the Brave Warriors without any major international commitments until 2006.They will, however, be given another chance during next year’s Cosafa Cup, the only tournament in which they will play competitively, apart from the anticipated international friendlies.The first goal by Angola came from a cross on the left flank after Oliver Risser failed to close down on his opponent, while the defenders also did little to mark the dangerous Love, who put the ball away past Arnold Subeb who was heavily exposed as a result.Love headed in the second goal after squeezing past Petrus and Richard Gariseb, leaving Subeb with little time to put in a better effort.Subeb, who made several top class-saves during the match, could not hold onto the ball, which then rolled into net for Angola’s second goal.The Namibians weighed up well against their counterparts in the opening 15 minutes, but their concentration faded towards the end of the first half.Angola had at least seven shots on target at the break, while the Warriors only managed two.The first half saw no substitutions from either side.The Namibian attack which was led by Floris Diergaardt and Jean Paul dos Santos did not get a lot of clear chances in both halves.A lot of activity however took place in the middle of the park for the Namibians, while Angola also spent a lot of time in the Namibian half.Outstanding performances for the Namibians came from captain Richard Gariseb who played his heart out, while Amos Shiyuka and Steven Tjeenao also did their bit to avoid more goals from being scored.Shiyuka and Gariseb both waded off potential threat towards the Namibian goal as they intercepted clear scoring chances for the home side.Midfielder Victor Helu constantly gave possession away as his dribbling skills let him down, while Brian Gurirab had little room to launch his runs on the flank.Risser, the only professional player in the side had a good match as most of his passes were accurate, while Mohamed Ouseb, who played in midfield did not show much fighting spirit and seemed to be off form.Dokkies Schmidt, who was brought in for for Dos Santos, did not have a lot of chances, while Rudolf Bester who came on for the injured Shiyuka tried his best to keep the ball away from the Namibian halve.Berlin Auchumeb also came on for Petrus in the second half, but his efforts could also not yield much as he played as a midfielder.Player Ratings Arnold Subeb 7 Richard Gariseb 8 Steven Tjeenao 7 Amos Shiyuka 6 (Rudolf Bester, 6) Jason Petrus 6 (Berlin Auchumeb, 6) Victor Helu 6 Brian Gurirab 6 Oliver Risser 7 Mohammed Ouseb 5 Jean Paul dos Santos 6 (Dokkies Schmidt, 6) Floris Diergaardt 68 – Very well done, 7 – Good game, 6 – Satisfactory, 5- Off formMatch rating 6The home side led 1-0 at half time with Love opening the account for the home side in the 26th minute, before adding the second goal midway through the second half to increase the scoreline to 2-0.Namibia’s Jason Petrus, who obtained his second cap in the match on the day, broke the ice for Namibia with a superb free kick from at least 40 metres to give the Brave Warriors their only goal of the match.The goal by Petrus lifted the play among the Warriors who kept on pushing forward, but their efforts were thwarted by the Angolan defence which was more organised than that of the visitors.Namibia are now out of the annual competition, being knocked-out five times in a row, first by Zimbabwe in 2000, followed by Mauritius in 2001, then by Swaziland the following year, before Botswana took the opportunity in 2003.Yesterday’s defeat also leave the Brave Warriors without any major international commitments until 2006.They will, however, be given another chance during next year’s Cosafa Cup, the only tournament in which they will play competitively, apart from the anticipated international friendlies.The first goal by Angola came from a cross on the left flank after Oliver Risser failed to close down on his opponent, while the defenders also did little to mark the dangerous Love, who put the ball away past Arnold Subeb who was heavily exposed as a result.Love headed in the second goal after squeezing past Petrus and Richard Gariseb, leaving Subeb with little time to put in a better effort.Subeb, who made several top class-saves during the match, could not hold onto the ball, which then rolled into net for Angola’s second goal.The Namibians weighed up well against their counterparts in the opening 15 minutes, but their concentration faded towards the end of the first half.Angola had at least seven shots on target at the break, while the Warriors only managed two.The first half saw no substitutions from either side.The Namibian attack which was led by Floris Diergaardt and Jean Paul dos Santos did not get a lot of clear chances in both halves.A lot of activity however took place in the middle of the park for the Namibians, while Angola also spent a lot of time in the Namibian half.Outstanding performances for the Namibians came from captain Richard Gariseb who played his heart out, while Amos Shiyuka and Steven Tjeenao also did their bit to avoid more goals from being scored.Shiyuka and Gariseb both waded off potential threat towards the Namibian goal as they intercepted clear scoring chances for the home side.Midfielder Victor Helu constantly gave possession away as his dribbling skills let him down, while Brian Gurirab had little room to launch his runs on the flank.Risser, the only professional player in the side had a good match as most of his passes were accurate, while Mohamed Ouseb, who played in midfield did not show much fighting spirit and seemed to be off form.Dokkies Schmidt, who was brought in for for Dos Santos, did not have a lot of chances, while Rudolf Bester who came on for the injured Shiyuka tried his best to keep the ball away from the Namibian halve.Berlin Auchumeb also came on for Petrus in the second half, but his efforts could also not yield much as he played as a midfielder.Player Ratings Arnold Subeb 7 Richard Gariseb 8 Steven Tjeenao 7 Amos Shiyuka 6 (Rudolf Bester, 6) Jason Petrus 6 (Berlin Auchumeb, 6) Victor Helu 6 Brian Gurirab 6 Oliver Risser 7 Mohammed Ouseb 5 Jean Paul dos Santos 6 (Dokkies Schmidt, 6) Floris Diergaardt 6 8 – Very well done, 7 – Good game, 6 – Satisfactory, 5- Off form Match rating 6