Namibia makes its debut in the African Nations Championship

Namibia is playing for the first time ever in the 20-18 African Nations Championship (CHAN 2018).  The soccer tournament is happening for the 5th time, and it is organized by the Confederation of African Football. Morocco is the host nation! The tournament began on January 12th and will conclude on February 18th. 

Namibia had an exciting 1-0 win against Ivory Coast in the first opening round of Group B play.  Namibia's Charles Hambira netted a goal in the final seconds of the game to edge out the Ivory Coast.  The game had been relatively uneventful with the exception of a close shot from Namibia's Pretrus Shitembi in the first half.  In the last few seconds of the game, Namibia had a free-kick that touched in by Hambira into the goal. Next up, Namibia will play Uganda, the winner of the other first round Group B game on Thursday the 18th.

The win is an exciting development for the Namibian National soccer team, who are nicknamed the "brave warriors" and have never qualified for the World Cup, but have young and promising talent! I'm excited to continue following their progress throughout the CHAN 2018 tournament! 





Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42684113
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_African_Nations_Championship
image source: https://www.namibian.com.na/public/uploads/images/56485df022043/Namibia.jpg

Posted by Ellie Chen