THE Brave Gladiators were very unfortunate to lose their opening match to Zimbabwe at the Cosafa Women’s Championship on Thursday, after several questionable refereeing decisions went against them.
Zimbabwe won the match 1-0 after a 17th minute goal by Rutendo Makore, but Namibia had a goal turned down, while a strong penalty appeal went against them. Even Zimbabwe’s goal should not have been allowed after one of their players handled the ball in the build-up.
Namibia had more chances in the second half but could not round them off, while keeper Melissa Matheus brought off several great saves to keep them in the game.
The defeat will now make it very difficult for Namibia to reach the knockout stages of the tournament, but they can hold their heads high after a passionate and committed performance.
Zimbabwe did the early attacking and their striker Makoro gave Namibia’s defence a lot of problems, although captain Emma Naris kept a close mark on her.
Matheus saved well from a Makoro header in the 14th minute, but three minutes later, Zimbabwe took the lead when Marjory Nyaumwe scrambled a loose ball into the net, although Erina Rumbidzayi had handled the ball in the buildup to the goal.
Zimbabwe kept on attacking and created more chances, but Matheus kept Namibia’s hopes alive with some excellent saves to deny Makore twice as well as Nyaumwe.
Namibia were very unlucky not to get a penalty shortly before halftime, while Zimbabwe’s keeper Chido Dzingirai should have been sent off when she fouled Twelikondjela Amukoto just inside the penalty box. The referee, however, ruled that the foul was committed outside the box and awarded a free kick to Namibia which Esther Amukwaya shot over the bar.
Matheus once again came to the rescue with a point blank save to deny Shamiso Mutasa early in the second half, but with Thomalina Adams and Kleintjie Fredericks becoming more influential in midfield, Namibia started to attack more.
They missed a great chance midway through the second half when a cross by Beverley Uueziua went abegging, while Dzingirai brought off a fine save from Anna Shikesho on 72 minutes.
There was once again drama a minute later when the referee once again bungled her lines. First a flying Amukoto was upended in the box, but no penalty was awarded, and then, barely a minute later Amukoto did hit the back of the net, but the referee awarded a free kick to Zimbabwe after ruling that Shikusho had fouled Dzingirai in the buildup.
Luck was clearly not on Namibia’s side and Zimbabwe went on to claim a rather dubious victory, as their coach, Sithethelelwe Sibanda acknowledged after the game.
“At least we managed to maintain our defensive structures and hence we did not concede a goal, but overall it was a great game and it’s tough luck to Namibia, they had a great game,” she said.
Namibia coach Brian Isaacs did not get drawn into the dubious decisions and congratulated Zimbabwe on their win.
“We had a nervous start and conceded a soft goal after about 15 minutes and as a result we didn’t play well because we were nervous and didn’t have confidence. During half time we discussed the issue and then we managed to play an excellent second half, but unfortunately we did not manage to score a goal. We created a few opportunities but Zimbabwe managed to hold out till the end, so congratulations to them,” he said.
Namibia’s 21-year-old defender, Emma Naris, who captained the team for the first time, won the player of the match award.
“It’s a big honour to be captain of my country and even though we lost, we really played well, so we hope to come back stronger in our next game,” she said.
In other matches on Wednesday, South Africa beat Madagascar 2-1, Botswana beat Malawi 2-0 and Uganda beat eSwatini 3-0.
