Namibia on Tuesday produced the biggest shock so far in an Africa Cup of Nations full of upsets in the Ivory Coast by snatching a 1-0 triumph over former champions Tunisia.
It was a historic first victory in the flagship African tournament for the Brave Warriors, who defeated and drew with another top team, Cameroon, in qualifiers for this year’s edition.
Deon Hotto headed the only goal of the opening match in Group E with two minutes of regular time remaining to raise the number of surprise results to six from 10 matches after only four days.
Photo: Reuters
Before Namibia made a mockery of the world rankings in the northern city of Korhogo, five other former title-holders failed to win their opening matches.
The rush of unexpected results began on Sunday when Equatorial Guinea held Nigeria, then Egypt needed a stoppage-time penalty from Mohamed Salah to snatch a draw against Mozambique.
Cape Verde scored in stoppage-time to defeat Ghana, the third-most successful country in the African showpiece with four titles.
On Monday, 10-man Guinea held five-time champions Cameroon before Angola recovered from a poor first-half showing to draw 1-1 with Algeria, who have conquered Africa twice.
Tunisia are ranked third of 54 African soccer nations, behind only 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco and Cup of Nations defending champions Senegal.
They are also 87 places above Namibia in the world rankings, making them hot favorites to get their group campaign off to a winning start.
While Tunisia qualified comfortably for the Ivory Coast, Namibia had to overcome a number of off-field obstacles before securing a place.
Substandard stadiums in the largely desert southern Africa country meant playing home qualifiers against Burundi and Cameroon in Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
Coach Collin Benjamin also had to contend with several “rusty” players because a dispute between national association and league officials halted competitions in Namibia for several seasons.
A team captained by forward Peter Shalulile, who plays for South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns, defied the odds, with a 2-1 “home” win over Cameroon the highlight.
Namibia next face neighbors South Africa in Korhogo on Sunday, followed by Mali on Wednesday next week in the southwestern port of San Pedro.
Even one point from the two fixtures would almost certainly secure the Brave Warriors a last-16 place, either as top-two finishers or as one of the four best third-placed teams.
Namibia lie second with three points behind Mali, who overcame disappointing South Africa 2-0 in the second match of a double-header to top the table on goal-difference.
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