Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIA have no option but to go for the jugular against Senegal in today’s 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier in Johannesburg.
That approach could be the Brave Warriors best chance at salvaging their qualifying campaign, which took a huge hit in Thiese on Saturday night when the Teranga Lions ruthlessly dispatched of their visitors 4-1.
Another victory for Senegal today will secure passage through to the final qualification phase with two games to spare. That outcome is not what Brave Warriors head coach Bobby Samaria had prescribed in his pre-match notes.
He demanded a reaction that includes being clinical in front of goal and minimising errors at the back which, coupled with suspect officiating, were the glaring shortcomings in that loss four days ago.
“I think his [Senegal opposite number Aliou Cisse] team were very dominant, got their chances and put them away. We got our chances too. Shalulile had a one on one, he missed. Deon Hotto had one with the goal at his mercy, and he opted to pass. The score could have been different,” Samaria remarked.
“I think the officiating, in my opinion, left much to be desired. The officials are from Ivory Coast, and were speaking in French with our opponent. For us it’s not good. We’re not here to cry over spilt milk,” he said. Cisse agreed that while they won comfortably in the end, the Brave Warriors posed enough of a threat to have them worried during Saturday’s contest.
With Senegal sitting five points better off, and with only one team progressing from the group, Namibia will see it as crucial that they gain revenge on Senegal and close the gap to two points heading into the final two qualifying games.
Cisse expects another testing outing but is confident that his Lions will overcome whatever the Warriors throw at them. “We mastered the game well, especially in the first half, and now there is a match waiting for us [in Johannesburg] and we must recover well,” Cisse said.
“When you are under pressure, you sometimes have to opt for [long balls], especially since we have players up front who know how to do that job well.”
Senegal have not lost a World Cup qualifier since 2013 when they went down 3-1 in the Ivory Coast. They have won their last six in a row, scoring 15 goals and conceding just three.
Senegal have won all six previous clashes with the Brave Warriors, since their first in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. They have scored 20 goals to Namibia’s two. Namibia can point to some recent respite against the Senegalese though, defeating an invitational shadow side 2-1 at the Cosafa Cup in July.
