We are the Champions!

A nation erupted with pride and joy when the Brave Warriors beat Mozambique 2-0 to win their first-ever Cosafa Cup title on Saturday evening.

National coach Ricardo Mannetti set the celebrations in motion with his now famous ‘Mannetti Run” as he streaked across the field at the final whistle, while several hundred Namibian fans at the Moruleng Stadium celebrated with unbridled elation.

Back home, a nation glued to the television set erupted with joy and elation as people started partying and took to the streets to celebrate the Brave Warriors’ triumph.

On social media congratulations poured in as people started tweeting and sending messages on Facebook.

President Hage Geingob led the congratulations on his Twitter account.

“We won! Namibia is on the march. Today football, tomorrow, poverty eradication. Thank you Brave Warriors! Thank you Namibians!,” he said.

In the post match interviews an elated Mannetti could not contain his joy.

“Wow! wow! wow! I’m happy for each and every individual. With this we’re gonna go places. Good planning paid off today,” he said.

“I want the cup to do the talking. We’ve made history. I love the club coaches. You did a good job,” he added.

Winger Deon Hotto was Namibia’s hero as he scored both goals, one in each half.

The first was a deft chip after a swift break by Benson Shilongo and the second a deflected curling shot that left Mozambique’s keeper Cesar Machava rooted to the spot.

But it was a great team effort as each player played his part. Defender Ananias Gebhardt made a great save just before halftime when he cleared a Mozambican shot off the line, while goal keeper Virgil Vries made a great diving save to tip a goal bound shot away after the break.

Petrus Shitembi once again displayed great vision from central midfield, while pacy winger Peter Shalulile won the man of the match award after an impressive display.

But it was Namibia’s diminutive midfielder Wangu Gome who won the Player of the Series award of N$20 000 after another dynamic and battling display in the middle of the park.

Namibia received N$500 000 as the winners while Mozambique received N$250 000 as the runners-up.

It was a great performance to cap a memorable tournament during which Namibia pulled off some giant-killing acts.

They started off slowly with a 0-0 draw against Seychelles but then stepped up their performance by beating Mauritius 2-0 and Zimbabwe 4-1 to top their group.

In the quarterfinals they pulled off the first major shock of the tournament, beating the defending champions Zambia 5-4 on penalties, and in the semifinals they beat Madagascar 3-2 in another thrilling display.

But they kept their best for last with a great team effort to life the cup for the first time.

The Brave Warriors also received great support with about 300 Namibian fans travelling by bus to South Africa on Friday after the government made four municipal buses available to the fans.

On the day of the match, messages of support streamed in from all quarters.

President Geingob led the support and tweeted that he had called Mannetti to convey his support.

“State visit to Mali prevents my Cosafa Cup final attendance. Spoke to Coach Mannetti to convey my message of support for Brave Warriors,” he said.

Members of Namibia’s national rugby team, including captain Jacques Burger, Theuns Kotze, David Philander and Renaldo Bothma all posted videos on the Namibia Rugby Union’s Facebook page, to convey messages of support to the Brave Warriors.

It also proved to be a successful day for Burger as he helped his English club side Saracens beat Bath 28-16 to lift the English Premiership trophy.

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