By Kuvee Kangueehi
GABORONE
The Brave Warriors crashed out of the Cosafa Castle Cup on Saturday afternoon at the National Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana. A solitary goal from Michael Magaladi in the 15th minute was enough to secure the hosts Botswana a victory.
The Warriors never really got out of the starting blocks and were on the back foot from the 2nd minute against an average Botswana side. The Warriors appeared intimidated by the thousands of home supporters who coloured the entire stadium blue and cheered their team with every single pass.
Dirang Moloi was the architect of the Brave Warriors downfall as he had the Namibian defence in sixes and sevens from the first whistle. The stocky striker drifted sometimes from the left causing Nakuta of all sorts of problems and then cutting quickly into the heart of the Warriors’ defence, sowing confusion.
This caused the Namibian defence to be sloppy and they conceded an unnecessary corner which resulted in the goal. Despite conceding the goal the Warriors still could not raise their game and Botswana almost extended its lead when the striker broke away following a poor offside trap.
Luckily Atheil Mbaha, who had a good game, was quick on his line and did well to close down the Botswana striker. The halftime score was 1-0.
In the second half, Botswana maintained its dominance especially in the middle of the park where Robert Nauseb and Oliver Risse had a poor day. The two could simply not handle the slick passing from Botswana and at times left the defence exposed as they pushed forward looking for the equalizer.
Meraai Swartbooi upfront was not getting any support and had to come deep to collect the ball.
The Angolan-based striker was Namibia’s best player on the pitch and produced Namibia’s best opportunity with a well taken volley which resulted in the Botswana goalkeeper producing a world-class save.
Except for the single effort, the second half had very few chances and Botswana were the ones threatening to score their second goal.
The Namibian team was simply flat and lacked the cutting edge. The game proved too much for the inexperienced players such as Gerson Katjatenja as he never really got his foot into the game.
Every single pass from him was a wrong one while he struggled to control the ball when he received it.
And the poor performances from the more experienced players such as Namibia Football Association (NFA) footballer of the year Rudolf Bester and Angolan-based Letu Shatumwene did not help matters.
Namibia was also affected by the late withdrawals of Hartman Toromba and Ephraim Tjihonge. The two players were expected to link up with the rest of the team in Johannesburg, South Africa but on Friday the Namibian technical staff were informed that their club Black Leopards was not willing to release the players because of pre-season training. Efforts to get replacements did not materialize and coach Ronnie Kanalelo had to stand in as the reserve goalie.
In the other match, Angola beat Lesotho 2-0 to book their place in the second round against Botswana. Namibia was expected to play yesterday afternoon against Lesotho for the third place in the group stages.
The Warriors arrive tomorrow back in the country.