Wasteful Warriors Out of Afcon

                                   Jabateh was New Era Sports' Man of the Match

By Carlos Kambaekwa,

Windhoek — Lady-luck turned her back on Namibia's senior football team, the Brave Warriors, as the team could only chalk up a goalless draw in their must-win 2013 African Nations Cup (AFCON) qualifier against Liberia at the Independence Stadium on Saturday.

Going into the penultimate clash with their backs against the wall following their 1-0 defeat in the first leg away in Monrovia in February - the Warriors had a Mount Kilimanjaro to scale as they needed to win by two clear goals without conceding a goal to have any mathematical chance of advancing to the next round.

The Liberians made three changes to the team that started against Namibia in the first leg, with Solomon Wesseh dropping to the substitute's bench, while wayward skipper Anthony Laffor and Dioh Williams were notable absentees.

The Warriors also made enforced changes to the squad with youngsters Awilo Stephanus and Petrus "Dancing Shoes" Shitembi getting a rare start - replacing the injured pair of Lazarus Kaimbi and Rudolf "Magic Feet" Bester.

However, the big occasion got the better of the usually dangerous super subs as both youngsters struggled to ignite the Warriors' exhausted engine room.

The visitors packed their defence - leaving dangerous striker Oliseh Sekou Jabateh to do battle alone upfront.

The SK Moscow No. 10 was a constant threat and single-handedly troubled the rearguard of the hosts with some deft touches on the ball, while his strong runs and intelligent positional play placed him in a different category from the other 21 players on the pitch.

Jabateh was New Era Sports' Man of the Match.

The first half produced very little in terms of goal scoring opportunities as the hosts failed to manage a single shot on target, while the visitors were content to sit back and defend deep to protect their one-goal cushion from the first leg.

The match finally came to life after a dull goalless first half as the Warriors threw more bodies upfront in search of the elusive equalizer.

Interim coach Norii Kaanjuka made a double substitution - withdrawing the ineffective Shitembi and unleashed Tangeni Shipahu, while he also hauled off Stephanus for Balack Somaeb.

The highly talented Shitembi had a bad day by his own standards. The move almost paid immediate dividends as the experienced Shipahu was at the forefront of many attacks with the Warriors coming close to breaking the deadlock, but erratic shooting by Heini Isaacks proved to be their downfall as the usually lethal goatee-bearded midfielder missed two sitters in succession with the goal at his mercy.

Substitute Somaeb also had a brilliant chance to put his name on the score sheet but the speedy youngster lost his footing when he was sent clear on goal via a copybook defence-splitting pass from fellow substitute Shipahu.

Despite running his lungs out and harassing the Liberian defence, which was well-marshalled by the dreadlocked Omega Alamadine, non-stop, the veteran striker Henrico Botes looked totally isolated upfront with decent through balls in short supply.

In what could be construed as the last throw of the dice, Kaanjuka replaced the tiring Lovers Kamuhanga with Sadney Uri-Khob, but the tactic yielded very little as the Liberians held on for the desired draw to extend their passage in the AFCON qualifiers - going through to the next round 1-0 on aggregate.

Brave Warriors starting line-up: Virgil Vries, Larry Horaeb, Dudes Mwedihanga, Da Costa Angula, Denzil Haoseb, Stigga Ketjijere (capt), Awilo Stephanus (Balack Somaeb), Petrus Shitembi (Tangeni Shipahu), Lovers Kamuhanga (Sadney Uri-Khob), Heini Isaacks and Henrico Botes.