Maqonda Ndlovu
The Namibia national football team lost 2-1 to Eswatini in their second Group A 2023 Cosafa Cup match played in Durban on Saturday.
Absalom Iimbondi opened the scoring for the Brave Warriors in 34 minutes with a superb free kick, but two quick-fire goals in the space of three minutes from Eswatini turned the game on its head just before halftime.
The first was a harmless-looking shot from outside the 18-yard box by Eswatini’s Sfiso Samu Matse, which deflected off Kennedy Amutenya’s outstretched leg to beat Edward Maova in goal for Namibia.
The second was a classic route one goal, which saw Eswatini’s Kwakhe Twala hoof a long ball into the Brave Warriors’ half.
Thabo Mkhonto flicked the ball into the path of Bongwa Matsebula, who took one touch and slid the ball in between the legs of an onrushing Maova to make it 2-1, with the Namibians’ defence in sixes and sevens.
The Brave Warriors dominated possession in the second half but failed to create any tangible chances, and the match ended 2-1 in favour of Eswatini.
Speaking after the match, coach Collin Benjamin said his team fell into Eswatini’s trap by playing into the opponents’ hands after dominating possession.
“We scored first, and we should have been able to defend the lead. Our plan was to outrun them on the wings, not to try and go physical with them. We did not do that; we allowed them to draw us to their type of game,” he said.
He added that the goals scored by Eswatini were preventable and hinted that there would be changes in his playing personnel against Botswana, as some senior players had failed to justify their positions in the team during the tournament.
With that defeat, the Brave Warriors now fall to the bottom of the log with one point.
South Africa tops the log with four points following their 2-1 victory over Botswana, who remain second with three points.
Eswatini is third, with the same number of points as Botswana.
Namibia will now play Botswana in their final group match tomorrow, with only a victory likely to see the Brave Warriors progress to the semi-finals.