Angola stun Namibia in Cosafa Cup final

Angola players celebrate a goal during the 2024 COSAFA Cup final match against Namibia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on July 06, 2024.
Angola players celebrate a goal during the 2024 COSAFA Cup final match against Namibia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on July 06, 2024.
Image: MICHAEL SHEEHAN/ GALLO IMAGES

A footballing masterclass by Angola saw them dismantle a 10-man Namibia 5-0 to claim their fourth title in the Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup final in Gqeberha on Sunday.

The sparsely attended match, which was the highest-scoring final in the history of the competition, saw a brace by Victor Pedro alongside goals by Pedro Francisco, Laurindo Aurelio and Keliano Manuel rubber stamp the result for Angola on a cold, windy afternoon at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

Angola took just 13 minutes to open their account as Francisco found the back of the net after a breakaway by Aurelio, who cut the ball back for skipper Manuel to strike.

Namibian goalkeeper Kamaijanda Ndisiro parried the Manuel shot into the path of Francisco, who calmly slotted the ball home.

Namibia found themselves in further trouble when captain Charles Hambira was yellow-carded after a foul on Francisco in the area.

The VAR officials were called on to have a look at the incident before asking referee Ahmad Heeralall to go to the screen on the side of the field.

He awarded the penalty, which was calmly slotted home by Aurelio to take his tournament goal tally to five as the first half drew to a close with seven minutes of added time.

Namibia replaced Tjipenandjambi Karuuombe in the midfield as the early second-half momentum swung in their favour.

They spurned a chance to pull one back when an early cross from the left was met by right-back Baggio Nashixwa, but he could not direct his header towards goal.

Angola grabbed a third when Bernardo Silva da Conceicao's corner was headed home by Victor Pedro to extend their lead.

Things would get worse for the Namibian when defender Ivan Kamberipa brought down Bernardo just outside the box. He initially saw yellow, however VAR was again called into action with the yellow card upgraded to a straight red card.

Pedro scored his second to all but seal the deal with a left-footed free kick that was rifled home to give Angola a 4-0 lead before Manuel added a fifth goal a few minutes later.

Namibian number nine Muzeu Betuel tested Angolan shot-stopper Landu Langanga in the final embers of the match, however they had to settle for the silver medal.

Meanwhile, Mozambique added a third bronze medal to their tally after a 3-1 penalty shoot-out victory over Comoros in the third/fourth place playoff.

Mozambican Chamito Alfandega found the net twice to bring his side level after goals from Comoros frontmen Ibroihim Djoudji and Kassim Hadji had given Comoros the lead as the match ended 2-2 after 120 minutes of football.

The nervy shoot-out saw the Mambas missing just one of the four penalties taken while their opponents missed three of their four spot kicks.

HeraldLIVE


subscribe

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.