By Tony Fabrice

Cameroon’s Indomitable lions have been conquered by the Brave Warriors of Namibia in the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations 2023 with a 2#1 win at the Donsonville Stadium in Soweto South Africa, Tuesday March 28, 2023.  

Four changes were made for this encounter by Coach Rigobert Song bringing in Thomas Etta Bawak of PWD and Vincent Aboubakar but they were unable to safe the Lions as Peter Shalulile and Absalom Limbondi netted for Namibia and Vincent Aboubakar’s retaliated for Cameroon.

  A difficult game it was for both sides during the first segment as the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and Brave Warriors of Namibia struggled to find the back of the net. Barely 10 minutes of play, captain Peter Shalulile missed out on a golden opportunity from putting his side ahead, his shot was easily captured by goalkeeper Davies Epassy. Several attempts from the Lions to take the lead yielded no fruits for the first 45minutes. The Namibians intercepted all attempts made by the lions to with apt defensive skills.

10 minutes into the second half of play Peter Shalulile’s efforts materialized as he stroke pass Davies Epassy to put his side ahead. In an attempt to better the attack line coach Rigobert Song brought in Jerome Ngom and Martin Hongla in place of Bryan Mbeumo and Moumi Ngamaleu. 11 minutes to the close of regular play time, the Brave Warriors won a free kick inches away from the Lions’ penalty box. 

Absalom Limbondi beautifully directed it to the back of the net making it 2#0 for Namibia. Vincent Aboubakar who was absent from the home game got a conciliatory goal in additional time but it was unable to level things as the final whistle concluded the game 2#1 in favour of Namibia.

The Indomitable Lions had played a 1-1 draw against the Brave Warriors last Friday March 24th at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde. The victory for Namibia sends them to the top of the table with five points while Cameroon is second with four and Burundi with just a point. Cameroon next play against Burundi that was on standby in their last group match.