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Namibia are on the verge of sealing a place at the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire after beating giants Cameroon 2-1 on Tuesday.
The Brave Warriors stopped the five-time champions in their Group C qualifier at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The victory sent Namibia to the top of the group with five points, one more than second-placed Indomitable Lions in the three-team group.
Burundi , the other team in the group, have played two matches and have one point, giving Namibia a good chance of qualifying for Africa’s flagship football competition.
In-form Mamelodi Sundowns forward Peter Shalulile, who also netted in the 1-1 draw against the same opponent last week, opened the scoring in the 55th minute before Absalom Limbondi extended the lead in the 79th minute.
Turkey-based Vincent Aboubakar was on target for the Indomitable Lions deep into stoppage time but was not enough for Cameroon sparking Namibia coach Collin Benjamin into some excitement.
“This is a very sweet win against a strong Cameroon team. I congratulate my players for working hard to get maximum points today,” said the happy Namibia coach Benjamin.
The Cameroon coach Rigobert Song was disappointed insisting his players did not take advantage of their opportunities.
“We failed to take our chances and Namibia punished us,” the former international defender said after the game.
Malawi 0 Egypt 4
The Pharaohs of Egypt were also in good scoring form when they registered a big 4-0 win away to Malawi in a match played at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
Tarek Hamd put Egypt in-front after only 4 minutes after a good pass by Skipper Mohamed Salah. The hosts tried to fight back through John Banda and Chester Yamikani, but the tight Egyptian defending line stood firm.
After 16 minutes Omar Marmoush made it 2-0, and Salah also got on the score sheet 4 minutes later to give Egypt a comfortable 3-0 lead at the break. In the second half Ahmed Sayed Zizo made it 4-0 after 49 minutes.
The win takes Egypt top of the group with nine points and a better goal difference than Guinea who also have the same number of points. Malawi and Ethiopia each remain at three points each.
In the other two earlier matches played Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde picked away wins to improve their chances of qualification.
Equatorial Guinea humbled Botswana 3-2 in a Group J match played at the Francistown Stadium in Francistown. Emilio Nsue Lopez gave the visitors the lead after 13 minutes, but Elias Mbatshi made it 1-1 after 28 minutes.
After 40 minutes Lebogang Ditsele netted an own goal to give Equatorial Guinea a 2-1 lead. Alex Balboa made it 3-1 for the visitors, but Kabelo Seakanyeng pulled one back as the hosts piled a lot of pressure to try and get more goals.
Cape Verde also picked a 1-0 away win against Eswatini with Ryan Mendes scoring the lone goal in the Group B match played at the Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela in South Africa.
The win takes Cape Verde to second place with seven points behind Burkina Faso who have nine points and are yet to face bottom placed Togo.
Source:CAFonline