The Week's Newspaper
| Warriors run over Djibouti |
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| Written by Sport Reporter | |||
| Wednesday, 16 November 2011 22:56 | |||
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Namibia joins Nigeria, Malawi and Kenya in group F of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers following their 8-0 aggregate victory over Djibouti two days ago (15 November). The Brave Warriors leading 4-0 from the first away leg, hosted Djibouti at Windhoek on Tuesday night and were firm favourites to win the match with a bigger or similar score-line. The Bernard Kaanjuka coached side stamped their authority on the match early on as they controlled play and showed some enterprising combinations with the likes of returning captain Ronald Ketjijere, Lazarus Kaimbi, Rudolph Bester, Brain Bantam and substitute Petrus Shitembi. The Brave Warriors got their first goal courtesy off a well executed free kick from vice-captain Heinrich Isaacks after Kaimbi was fouled. Just short of the break, Kaimbi scored his first of the night with a neat header at the far post for Namibia to take a 2-0 half time lead. Returning to the pit, Warriors continued to pressure the visitors but took time in getting their third goal as Kaimbi once again showed his class, latching onto an inviting pass from the middle to finish calmly inside the box to achieve an insurmountable lead for Namibia. With Shitembi and Willy Stephanus coming on in the second half, the Warriors continued to hold onto the ball and play some entertaining brand of football as they continued to pressure the Djibouti rearguard. The pressure finally paid off as Sidney Urikhob found space behind the defenders to coolly finish with a plomb from a tight angle with a left-footed strike for a 4-0 score-line and his second of the fixture. Warriors coach Bernhard Kaanjuka was impressed with his team: “The guys played well under pressure and kept on coming at Djibouti. I believe this offence play is working well for the team. It was however difficult to play against 11 players behind the ball as Djibouti defended well but in the end the score speaks volume,” said the coach after the match. Kaanjuka is now planning for Namibia’s next match which will be the AFCON 2013 qualifier against Liberia in the beginning of next year. Namibia and the other 10 overall winners of the preliminary round matches will join Liberia, who received a bye when cash-strapped Mauritius withdrew. They will form part of the group phase in June, as Africa’s top 28 nations begin their campaign with a total of 10 four-team groups advancing the winners to the third and final round of qualifying. In all, Africa will stage 152 qualifiers to determine which five teams will reach the 2014 World Cup and only five teams will represent Africa at the first World Cup staged in Brazil since 1950.
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