ZAMBIA made Namibia pay for their repeated mistakes in defence to emerge as 1-0 winners in a quarter-final match of the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup in Harare yesterday.
Namibian goalkeeper Athiel Mbaha was heavily exposed on countless occasions throughout the match, but his experience and quick reflexes kept the Namibians in play until the 85th minute, when the Zambians broke the deadlock.Despite going into the break tied on 0-all, the Namibians managed to contain the relentless pressure from Chipolopolo for at least the opening 35 minutes of the match. The Namibian players in fact have themselves to blame for the goal as they fell back too deep each time the opposition was in control.The goal came via a scramble in the box, giving Mbaha no chance as he missed to get hold of the ball, a situation that was largely caused by his defenders who failed to clear the ball in time.The biggest culprits in the Namibian defence were veteran George Hummel and Ralph Ellinger who at times failed to communicate.Mbaha was at risk throughout the match, but a slightly improved first half for the Namibians saw them come close a few times, but their lone striker Tangeni Shipahu received little supply of the ball.Mbaha also denied the Zambians a goal after a brilliant save as Ellinger brought down an opposing player in the box, while Quinton Jacobs laboured in midfield to no avail.Jacobs got the Man of the Match award, but Mbaha could have been the deserving man because of his great skills in goal and he was possibly the busiest man of them all on the day.The Orlando Pirates goal-minder stopped at least five clear shots on target with a lot of confidence, but was let down by his defence who could not even hear him shouting instructions on several occasions. Hartman Toromba did not produce his trademark consistency this time around, so did Steven Goagab, who struggle to keep up with the pacey Zambians in defence.Namibian midfielders Meraai Swartbooi, Ninja Karongee and Sidney Plaatjies were nowhere in the game, despite a few runs they tried to make towards the goal but which yielded little results as most were intercepted by the Zambians.Rudi Louw, like Jacobs, tried to make things work for the team, but was later replaced by Edward Asino who hardly saw any action coming his way since going on as a sub.Warriors coach Tom Saintfiet, realising that they were pushing a bit up front in the second half, also introduced Heini Isaacks for Meraai Swartbooi, while Plaatjies was replaced by Eslin Kamuhanga. Overall, the Namibians tried their best to create some chances, but their defensive approach in each game once again let them play second fiddle to a Zambian side they could have beaten.The Warriors return today and will have to wait to get back in action possibly on a Fifa international friendly date. corry@namibian.com.na
