Warriors rue missed chance

The Brave Warriors’ qualifying campaign for the 2026 Fifa World Cup got off to a losing start with a 1-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in Malabo on Wednesday.

Striker and captain Emilio Nsue scored the winner midway through the second half when Federico Bikoro whipped in a cross from the left wing, and Iban Salvador found an unmarked Nsue in the box, who scored with a first-time shot.

The home side had more opportunities, with Basilio Ndong and Pablo Ganet shooting wide from close range, while Namibian keeper Lloyd Kazapua pulled off two point blank saves at the end of the first half to deny Bikiro and Ndong.

Namibia wasted a clearcut chance after 14 minutes when Absalom Iimbondi ran onto a great throughball, but his angled shot across the face of the goal went narrowly wide.

With Deon Hotto providing some good crosses from the left wing and Petrus Shitembi prominent in midfield, more chances came their way, but the finishing was poor with shots by Elmo Kambindu and Betuel Muzeu not troubling the Equatorial Guinea keeper.

Namibian coach Collin Benjamin brought on Prins Tjiueza for Iimbondi and Uetuuro Kambatu for Kambindu after 63 minutes, but Namibia seldom threatened, while Equatorial Guinea ran down the clock with time-wasting tactics, as they held on for a valuable victory.

After the match Benjamin praised his team, but regretted Iimbondi’s missed chance.

“My team played really good, especially in the first half when we had Equatorial Guinea good, and we could close the spaces where they could hurt us, and through our good pressing we got that chance.

“It was a 100% chance to score a goal, so that was unfortunately a setback for the boys, because if you score that goal you go 1-0 up, and it’s going to be bigger problems for Equatorial Guinea,” he said.

“But nonetheless, I think the boys kept fighting against Guinea, who I think are a good team.

“They are experienced and you could also see how they were playing with the time, and every two seconds there was somebody on the floor injured, tired or just playing games, but that is international soccer.

“You are going to have to do everything possible to win the game, and that’s what they did, and it’s now for our team to learn all these tactics and to know that it’s always going to be difficult outside,” he said.

Benjamin, however, drew hope from the performance, saying they looked forward to their next match.

“I congratulate Equatorial Guinea on a good game. They did what they had to do, but I think if we were closer in the duel in the second half, their goal would not have come, but we will stand up, and we are looking forward to the next game,” he said.

Namibian captain Ananias Gebhardt also lamented their missed chance.

“It’s a setback. We didn’t come here to lose, we came here to get a positive result, but unfortunately we conceded one goal.

“We didn’t manage to capitalise on our chances, especially in the first half when we got a clear chance, so if we scored that goal it would have been a totally different approach from Equatorial Guinea, who would probably have come out more,” he said.

“Now we will take it to the next game, it’s a small setback, but we are not down and out at all, so we will give it our all and make sure we get the best possible result in our next match,” he said.

Namibia’s next match is against Sao Tome e Principe in Agadir, Morocco, on 21 November.

In other African qualifying matches on Wednesday, the Democratic Republic of Congo beat Mauritania 2-0; Rwanda and Zimbabwe drew 0-0; and Ethiopia and Lesotho drew 0-0.

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