Namibia produced the biggest shock so far in an upset-filled Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, grabbing a 1-0 triumph over former champions Tunisia on Tuesday.
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It was a historic first win at the flagship African tournament for the Brave Warriors, who defeated and drew with another top team, Cameroon, in the qualifiers for the 2024 edition.
Deon Hotto scored the only goal of the first game in Group E with two minutes of normal time remaining to take his tally of surprise results to six from 10 games after just four days.
Before Namibia made a mockery of the world rankings in the northern town of Korhogo, five other former title holders failed to win their opening matches.
The flurry of unexpected results began on Sunday when Equatorial Guinea beat Nigeria, then Egypt needed an added penalty from Mohamed Salah to grab a draw against Mozambique.
Cape Verde scored in added time to beat Ghana, the third most successful country in the African showpiece with four titles.
On Monday, 10-man Guinea hosted five-time champions Cameroon before Angola recovered from a poor first-half display to draw 1-1 with two-time African champions Algeria.
Tunisia are currently ranked third out of 54 African footballing nations, behind only 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco and defending Nations Cup champions Senegal.
They are also 87 places above Namibia in the world rankings, making them favorites to start their group campaign on a winning note.
While Tunisia comfortably qualified for Ivory Coast, Namibia had to overcome a number of off-field hurdles before securing a place.
Substandard stadiums in the predominantly desert southern African country meant they played home qualifiers against Burundi and Cameroon in Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
“Rusty” players
Coach Collin Benjamin has also had to contend with a number of “rusty” players as a dispute between national federations and league officials has halted games in Namibia for several seasons.
But a team captained by striker Peter Shalulile, who plays for South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns, defied the odds, with a 2-1 ‘home’ win over Cameroon the highlight.
Namibia face neighbors South Africa in Korhogo on Sunday, followed by Mali next Wednesday in the southwestern port of San Pedro.
Even a point from either game would almost certainly secure the Brave Warriors a place in the last 16, either as a top two finisher or as one of the top four teams in third place.
Namibia are second on three points behind Mali, who beat a disappointing South Africa 2-0 in the second leg of a double-header and top the table on goal difference.
Appearing in the Cup of Nations for only the fourth time in eight editions, Bafana Bafana missed a first-half penalty when Percy Tau was fouled.
Mali won with two goals in six minutes early in the second half. Hamari Traore pushed a rebound after a foul off the post and Lacin Shinajoko grabbed the second.
Aston Villa striker Bertrand Traore came off the bench to convert the added penalty to give Burkina Faso a dramatic 1-0 Mauritania Group D win in downtown Bouake.
It was an emotional victory for France coach Hubert Velud, who finally made his debut in a Nations Cup tournament 14 years after he had been waiting for it.
Veloud was in charge of the Togo team that was forced to withdraw from the 2010 finals after gunmen attacked the team’s bus in host country Angola, killing three on board.
He was thwarted again when he qualified in Sudan for the 2022 Cup of Nations only to be sacked before the tournament.
Burkina Faso top Group D with three points, Angola and Algeria have one each and Mauritania none.
On Wednesday, the final two group games of the first round will be played with Morocco taking on outsiders Tanzania before the Democratic Republic of Congo take on former champions Zambia.
(AFP)