…Namibia Tastes Sweet Victory
By Staff Reporter
Windhoek
Namibia qualified for the 2008 African Nations Cup finals after the Brave Warriors’ rookie Muna Katupose scored the winner in the dying minutes against Ethiopia in Addis Ababa over the weekend.
The Warriors’ 3-2 victory combined with the one-all draw between Libya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), secured the Brave Warriors the top spot in Group 10 and an automatic qualification.
Following poor preparation ahead of the game – a coach plagued by illness and the absence of most of the senior players from the squad – many pundits had written off Namibia’s qualification before the match.
BBC reports that Birhanu Bogale gave Ethiopia the lead on the stroke of half time and Rudolph Bester levelled midway through the second half.
Salhadin Said put the home team ahead again just 180 seconds later but Bester equalised after 81 minutes.
Katupose became the hero of the country whose national team comprises players in Namibia and neighbouring Angola and South Africa.
Needing a win to secure a ninth consecutive visit to the Nations Cup, DRC went ahead just before half-time in Kinshasa when Shabani Nonda converted a penalty awarded for a foul on Mbala Mbuta.
Namibia climbed from third place before the final-round qualifiers to finish first with 10 points. DRC took second position with nine points in one of the most intriguing of the 12 mini-leagues.
Libya is third with eight points while Ethiopia have six. Ranked 32nd out of 53 African countries, Namibia trailed twice in the stamina-sapping 2???_?_’???_?’???_???