By Carlos Kambaekwa
WINDHOEK
Namibia’s remote hopes of reaching the quarterfinals of the 26th edition of the African Cup of Nations finals, which gets underway in Ghana this week, were further dented when the Brave Warriors suffered another defeat in their last warm-up match against Senegal in Dakar on Saturday.
The Brave Warriors succumbed to a 3-1 defeat against the star-studded Senegalese team after the “Lions of Teranga” took a one-goal cushion at the changeover.
English Premiership-based strikers Diomansy Kamara and Henry Camara netted for Senegalese team, with Fullham’s striker Kamara scoring the only goal in the first half.
However, Namibia gallantly fought back and was rewarded with a goal by Civics’ hard running midfielder Brian Brendell, who brought the teams on level terms 20 minutes into the second half and broke the Warriors’ goal drought.
Fulham striker Kamara completed his brace in the second half before Camara sealed the match with a clinical finish with seven minutes remaining on the clock.
The defeat was the Warriors’ fifth in as many warm-ups after suffering losses against fellow African Nations Cup finalists Morocco, Tunisia and current African champions Egypt, while they also narrowly went down against the oil-rich football minnows Saudi Arabia in another warm-up international friendly.
The Warriors have so far conceded a total of 11 goals in just 450 minutes of game time whilst they could only find the opposition’s net on a rare occasion, one to be precise – a disturbing average of 2.8 per match, something that must be giving the technical staff some sleepless nights ahead of the Warriors’ second appearance at the continental showpiece.
Namibia is pitted in Group A alongside hosts Ghana, Guinea and former FIFA World Cup finalists Morocco and opens her assault in the three-week tournament with a date against the latter at the Ohono Djan stadium in the Ghanaian capital Accra on the 21st of this month.
Meanwhile, the Namibian Football Association is to host a farewell dinner for the Brave Warriors at the Safari Hotel in the capital tomorrow evening.