Namibia produced the most important shock to date in an Africa Cup of Nations filled with upsets within the Ivory Coast by snatching a 1-0 overcome former champions Tunisia on Tuesday.
It was a historic first victory within the flagship African event for the Courageous Warriors, who defeated and drew with one other high staff, Cameroon, in qualifiers for the 2024 version.
Deon Hotto headed the one objective of the opening match in Group E with two minutes of standard time remaining to lift the variety of shock outcomes to 6 from 10 matches after solely 4 days.
Earlier than Namibia made a mockery of the world rankings within the northern metropolis of Korhogo, 5 different former title-holders did not win their opening matches.
The push of sudden outcomes started on Sunday when Equatorial Guinea held Nigeria, then Egypt wanted an added-time penalty from Mohamed Salah to grab a draw in opposition to Mozambique.
Cape Verde scored in added time to defeat Ghana, the third most profitable nation within the African showpiece with 4 titles.
On Monday, 10-man Guinea held five-time champions Cameroon earlier than Angola recovered from a poor first-half displaying to attract 1-1 with Algeria, who’ve conquered Africa twice.
Tunisia are at the moment ranked third of 54 African soccer nations, behind solely 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco and Cup of Nations defending champions Senegal.
They’re additionally 87 locations above Namibia on this planet rankings, making them sizzling favourites to get their group marketing campaign off to a successful begin.
Whereas Tunisia certified comfortably for the Ivory Coast, Namibia needed to overcome numerous off-field obstacles earlier than securing a spot.
Sub-standard stadiums within the largely desert southern Africa nation meant enjoying residence qualifiers in opposition to Burundi and Cameroon in Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
– ‘Rusty’ gamers –
Coach Collin Benjamin additionally needed to deal with a number of “rusty” gamers as a result of a dispute between nationwide affiliation and league officers halted competitions in Namibia for a number of seasons.
However a staff captained by ahead Peter Shalulile, who performs for South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns, defied the percentages, with a 2-1 ‘residence’ win over Cameroon the spotlight.
Namibia subsequent face neighbours South Africa in Korhogo on Sunday adopted by Mali the next Wednesday within the southwestern port of San Pedro.
Even one level from the 2 fixtures would nearly definitely safe the Courageous Warriors a last-16 place, both as top-two finishers or as one of many 4 finest third-placed groups.
Namibia lie second with three factors behind Mali, who overcame disappointing South Africa 2-0 within the second match of a double-header to high the desk on objective distinction.
Showing within the Cup of Nations for less than the fourth time in eight editions, Bafana Bafana missed a first-half penalty when Percy Tau blazed over.
Mali gained by two targets inside six minutes early within the second half. Hamari Traore pushed residence a rebound after a free-kick rebounded off the bar and Lassine Sinayoko acquired the second.
Out-of-favour Aston Villa ahead Bertrand Traore got here off the bench to transform an added-time penalty and provides Burkina Faso a dramatic 1-0 Group D win over Mauritania in central metropolis Bouake.
It was an emotional victory for French coach Hubert Velud, lastly making his debut at a Cup of Nations event 14 years after anticipating to take action.
Velud was in command of the Togo squad pressured to withdraw from the 2010 finals after gunmen attacked the staff bus in host nation Angola and killed three occupants.
He was foiled once more when he certified Sudan for the 2022 Cup of Nations solely to be fired earlier than the event.
Burkina Faso high Group D with three factors, Angola and Algeria have one every and Mauritania none.
On Wednesday, the ultimate two opening-round group matches will probably be staged with Morocco taking over outsiders Tanzania earlier than the Democratic Republic of Congo face fellow former champions Zambia.