Own goal in the final minute - Namibia loses tragic | Sports | '
If football were to be ranked by unfortunate defeats, Namibia's national team would have a good chance of securing a top spot there with its debut at the 32nd Africa Cup in Egypt. For 89 minutes, the "Brave Warriors", the "proud fighters", as they call themselves, held on Sunday (23.06.19) in Group D against the high favorite Morocco a 0: 0.
Then a free kick from Amsterdam's Hakim Ziyech sailed in from Halflinks for Morocco, passed through some players and fell the substitute Namibian defender Itamunua Keimuine so unhappy on the head that he jumped from there into the Namibian goal. 1: 0 for Morocco in the last minute. Disbelievingly, Nambia's actors sank to the floor, while Morocco's players stretched out their hands in gratitude toward the heavens.
"Namibia was well organized, we struggled with the heat and the first game of a tournament is always difficult," said Morocco coach Herve Renard after the game. "I'm proud of my guys who have put our tactics first-rate, and unfortunately we've had to pay tribute to our lack of experience," said Namibia coach Ricardo Manetti.
Enormous heat in the afternoon in Cairo
With 36 degrees of air temperature in the afternoon glow of Cairo's Al Salam Stadium, Morocco was the dominant team from the start, but was barely able to beat the closely-spaced south-west African defensive. Only a long-range shot from defender Nabil Dirar caused some danger after twelve minutes, but the ball hissed just over the goal.
Morocco midfielder Mbark Boussoufa is still annoyed – later he has cause for celebration
Otherwise, not much happened. Namibia with the German-Namibian Manfred Starke in the central midfield, defended concentrated and made the rooms closely in front of his own penalty area. Strong, who played last season at FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the third division and will be active in the coming season for the 1. FC Kaiserslautern, convinced in unfamiliar position. After all, the native Namibian, who moved to Rostock at an early age, is a trained striker. At Manetti he plays but now because of his good game overview in the central midfield.
German-Namibian strong with a good match
However, after 64 minutes, Strong was exhausted and had to be replaced. The Moroccans accelerated once again in the second section, but it ultimately looked like a draw. Until the unfortunate own scorer came. "The main thing is that we have three points," Morocco coach finally satisfied and wished a strong Namibia in the next few games: "I hope they can make life difficult for our group opponents Côte d'Ivoire and South Africa."
Morocco is not least due to Renard's history to favorite circle. The Frenchman managed to win the Africa Cup twice with different teams. In 2012, he triumphed with outsiders Zambia, 2015, he led the favored Côte d'Ivoire to the longed for title.
Senegal starts confidently
Another favorite was also in action for the first time on Sunday: Senegal defeated outsiders Tanzania 2-0, as expected. Even without the yellow-locked star player Sadio Mane from Liverpool, the "Loewen von Teranga" clearly dominated over 90 minutes and could have won much higher. In the end, Keita Balde's (28th minute) and Cretin Diatta's 18-meter dive made it 64th-half.
Also in Group C, Algeria earned against Kenya (2: 0) by. Baghdad Bounedjah put Algeria 1-0 in the 34th minute in the 34th-minute defeat – Dennis Odhiambo Omino had brought down Youcef Attal – Riyad Mahrez increased to 2: 0 (43.) before the end of the first half.
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