Orlando Pirates star Deon Hotto struck late in the second half to guide Namibia to a shock 1-0 win over Tunisia in their Africa Cup of Nations opener.
Africa Cup of Nations
Result: Tunisia 0-1 Namibia
Date: 16 January 2024
Venue: Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly
PSL stars Peter Shalulile, Deon Hotto, Riaan Hanamub and goalkeeper Lloyd Kazapua were in the line-up for the Brave Warriors while forward Youssef Msakni became only the second player in Tunisian history to reach 100 caps.
The Carthage Eagles took the game to Namibia in the early exchanges but Shalulile had a great chance within the first eight minutes after he received a cut-back in a good position in the box but his shot lacked power and was saved by goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said.
The game opened up after that but both sides were unable to create clear opportunities in the last third, with crosses that were easy to deal with in the box.
Collin Benjamin's charges showed more attacking intent in the closing phase of the first stanza but they were not accurate with their shots at goal and the sides went to the break deadlocked.
Namibia pressed the North African side high coming from the break but they nearly conceded ten minutes later from a counter-attack after Haythem Jouini found space in the box but fired his shot wide.
Jalel Kadri's troops continued to threaten utilizing the acres of space behind the Brave Warriors' defence and with 20 minutes to go, Msakni found himself in a one-on-one but was denied by Kazapua.
Tunisia kept on coming as Msakni came very close in the last ten minutes with a dipping header that was acrobatically parried over the crossbar by Kazapua.
The Brave Warriors pressurized Tunisia in the dying minutes and Hotto eventually snatched the winner in the last minute with a free header from coming from deep at the back post after a cross by Bethuel Muzeu.
Hotto had a goal for Namibia chalked off for offside in stoppage time after a through ball by Shalulile, as Benjamin's men had a perfect start in Group E and won their first ever game at the finals.
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