Namibia Shock Tunisia, Mali Down Bafana Bafana

The drama of supposedly ‘minnows’ shocking big football countries continued last night as Namibia recorded a shock 1-0 win over Tunisia in their Group E opener while Mali also stunned South Africa’s Bafana Bafana 2-0.

Deon Hotto kept Namibian supported celebrating inside the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium when he headed the Brave Warriors ahead.

Tunisia looked lively at the start of the game and were awarded a corner during the first five minutes of the game. With a ball whipped into the area, Lloyd Kazapua was forced to make a reaction save as a result from a glancing header on the edge of the six-yard area.

Despite the Carthage Eagles early spell of possession, Namibia continued to probe and created a couple of scoring opportunities during the first 15 minutes of the match. With Tunisia defenders quick to cover their goal line, the Brave Warriors were unable to make the most of their early chances.

Elsewhere on the night, Mali also stunned South Africa’s Bafana Bafana with two unreplied goals. The early part of the encounter started on a very fast pace as both teams tried to dominate play.

South Africa could have taken the lead in the 19th minute but Percy Tau failed to convert his penalty.

This upset is a follow up to Cape Verdes’ shocking defeat of Ghana’s Black Stars and the near upset of seven-time champions Egypt who needed 12 added minutes to pull a face saving equaliser against Mozambique. Nigeria and Algeria were also held by Equatorial Guinea and Angola respectively. Cameroon also kicked off their campaign with draw against Guinea.