Deon Hotto secure points for Warriors at Mozambique

Deon Hotto came off the bench and scored in added time to give the Brave Warriors a 2-1 win over Mozambique on Saturday afternoon in Maputo in their 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group K qualifier . Hotto replaced Absalom Iimbondi after Petrus Shitembi put Namibia level on 70 minutes. The Bidvest Wits midfielder unleashed a speculative shot from 30 meters that flew through the jelly hands of the Mozambican goalkeeper in added time, to break the home side’s hearts and bring Namibia level on points with the rest in Group K. Ahead of the match, Namibia were the only side on a single point in the Group with Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Zambia on four points each. It was a bad start for Namibia in the wet conditions in Maputo as Sitoe gave the home side the lead on 25 minutes with a well-taken header from a corner kick. However, Ricardo Mannetti's team fought back and finally got back into the game through the boot of midfielder Petrus Shitembi, who slotted home from inside the box after some fine play and layoff by returnee Shalulile on 70 minutes. Riaan Hanamub had a chance to make it three points for the Brave Warriors on 85 minutes, only for his shot to be blocked off for Namibia’s first corner kick before Hotto made sure of the points on 90 minutes. Earlier on, Iimbondi's fine cross on 21 minutes was missed in front of goal and a minute later Shalulile’s shot was well saved by the Mozambican goalkeeper. Last game's goal scorer Benson Shilongo was too slow to get through to a ball from Shalulile on 32 minutes before Sadney Urikhob replaced him at halftime. Virgil Vries was equal to a Mozambican header on 47 minutes off a Pelembe free kick and on the other hand Shalulile beat the defender only for his shot to be saved by the goalkeeper. The victory is the best response the boys could give to coach Mannetti’ s challenge for them to win away from home and also means they now have four points from three games, the same number of points as Mozambique, Zambia and Guinea Bissau. Guinea Bissau will host Zambia on Sunday and then Namibia will play Mozambique at the Sam Nujoma Stadium, with kickoff set for 19h00. Tickets for the Tuesday match are selling for N$ 50 at Computicket outlets and at Football House. The final home game for the Warriors will be against Guinea Bissau between 12-20 November before they visit Zambia in March 2019. The group winner and the runner-up will qualify for the 32nd edition of the Total African Cup of Nations to be played in Cameroon from 15 June to 13 July 2019. The Brave Warriors starting lineup vs Mozambique: Virgil Vries, Tiberius Lombard, Denzil Haoseb, Riaan Hananub, Ananias Gebhardt, Petrus Shitembi, Ronald Ketjijere, Absalom Iimbondi, Willy Stephanus, Benson Shilongo, and Peter Shalulile.

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Dan Kamati NFA Media Officer