WINDHOEK Namibia’s Brave Warriors recorded a moral boosting 2-1 victory against Malawi in Blantyre on Friday ahead of their Cosafa match against Botswana at end of July. A goal each from African Stars striker Gerson Katjatenja, who was making his debut, and Rudolf Bester were enough to give the Brave Warriors their first away victory in more than five years. Although the game was a friendly and part of Malawi’s independence anniversary celebrations, it was very competitive. Namibia drew first blood midway in the first half when Katjatenja opened the scoring and gave the visitors a one-goal lead at halftime. However, Malawi regrouped in the second half and put the game into higher gear. With the close to 10 000 supporters singing their lungs out, the home team repaid the loyalty of their fans and scored the equalizer in the first minutes of the second half. Namibia however was not intimidated by the goal and not prepared to throw away their good record against Malawi. Namibia beat Malawi 2 – 1 before and in 2006 Namibia beat Malawi 3-2 in a Cosafa Cup match in Windhoek. The promising Eleven Arrows winger Bester produced a moment of brilliance and showed again why he is highly regarded by the national team when he scored a beautiful goal in the closing stages of the match. The slightly built striker collected the ball in the middle of the park, dribbled past two defenders and cut into the box before slotting the ball into the net. The only disappointment in the game was that Namibia continued to struggle to find the net despite being in good positions in front of goal. The Warriors could have won the game by a big margin but Bester and substitute striker Muna Katupose were culprits.
2007-07-092024-04-23By Staff Reporter