Namibia recorded one of the biggest results at the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after getting the better of 2004 champions Tunisia with a 1-0 Group D win in Boakye on Tuesday evening.
The Brave Warriors were making their fourth AFCON appearance and first since 2019. On each occasion, they failed to make it past the group stage and had never won a game previously.
The Carthage Eagles however threatened first with Yassine Khenissi attempting a header from a corner kick in the fifth minute but was comfortably saved by goalkeeper Lloyd Junior Kazapua.
Namibia had their first attempt three minutes later with Mamelodi Sundowns forward Peter Shalulile firing a low shot that was saved by Bechir Ben Said. Petrus Shitembi tried to take a shot from outside the box from the rebound but it failed to hit the target.
Shalulile attempted another shot in the 50th minute but his effort was blocked by the Tunisian defence.
Namibia pilled more pressure in the closing 10 minutes and finally got their goal in the 88th minute after Bethuel Muzeu showed some nice skills and sent a cross in the direction of the unmarked Deon Hotto to head from close range. Hotto thought he had doubled his tally in added time but his effort was ruled out for offside.
HISTORY WRITTEN. ✍️
Namibia get their first ever TotalEnergies AFCON win! ????????????#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 l @Official_NFA pic.twitter.com/4hU8nnGu2N
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 16, 2024
The victory gives Collin Benjamin’s men an early lead in Group D with 1996 AFCON champions South Africa playing Mali later on Tuesday night.
