Namibia advance to final round of 2018 CHAN Championships

WINDHOEK, July 24 (Xinhua) — Namibia managed to proceed to the final round of the 2018 Confederation of Africa Footfall (CAF) Africa Nations Championships (CHAN), following their penalty shoot-out win over hosts Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday.

Namibian coach Ricardo Mannetti said in a statement that his side played a very good Zimbabwe team that was in great shape, but Namibia’s hunger was stronger than their opponents.

Zimbabwe managed to run out 1-0 winners thanks to a strike from Prince Dube, leaving the aggregate score 1-1 after two legs, and the two nations had to go through the penalty shoot-out to decide who would progress to the next stage.

“The mentality won us this round. We wanted it more than them. The boys defended well, created chances and that was very brave of them. When Immanuel scored that penalty we could not contain ourselves,” Mannetti said.

Namibia beat hosts Zimbabwe 5-4 on penalties and will next face the Comoros on Aug. 11 for a Third Round first leg, with the second meeting in Windhoek on Aug. 18.

The winner will qualify for the 2018 CHAN to be held in Kenya from Jan. 11 to Feb. 2.