Guinea vs Namibia – OpenThread

January 28th, 2008 | by: Laurie | Comments(11)

Guinea is fighting for all the marbles here — their ability to advance depends on a win, and also on a little luck in the Ghana vs. Morocco game. Namibia, with zero points, would appear to be fighting only for pride, but even they are numerically not out of the running for one of the final two spots. Expect a hard-fought game.

Guinea 1-1 Namibia FINAL

62′ Youla – 80′ Brendell

Daryl has a post with more on the possible Group A outcomes here. And since today’s games are playing at the same time, he will be liveblogging the Ghana-Morocco game while I’m hosting this Open Thread.

90 + 3 The whistle blows. Namibia gets their second-ever ACN point. Assuming Morocco didn’t score two in the final minute, Guinea goes through. They’d better figure out how to finish before the next game.

90 + 2 Everybody seems to be playing for the draw.

90 + 1 3 minutes stoppage time. Morocco is still down 0-2. If it ends like this, Guinea goes through.

85′ Brendell gets a yellow for pulling his shirt up. Bad deal.

84′ Namibia is playing like they mean it again. Guinea had better watch out.

80′ GOAL!!! Brendell equalizes on a beautiful run and beautiful long-distance shot. Guinea were complacent and caught flat-footed. Group A has gotten interesting again.

78′ It’s a good thing I’m not playing a drinking game with the words “…touch lets him down.” I would be dead by now.

77′ Sakho (Guinea) is injured and carried off the field. He seemed to be holiding his shin, but that didn’t look like where the contact was? Foot, maybe?

75′ Youla off, Karamoko Cisse on for Guinea.

73′ Kambonde in, Swartbooi out for Namibia.

71′ Bangoura shoots wide. This game is feeling all but over. Namibia is barely getting the ball past the middle of the field.

69′ Soumah out, Sylla in for Guinea. Soumah is sitting on a yellow and they want to guarantee that he’s around for the next game.

62′ GOAL!!! Youla finally puts it in for Guinea — an slow, angled shot across the goal that just barely makes it inside of the far post.

59′ Guinea is dominating posession, but they’re either giving away posession cheaply or not able to finish. Good thing they don’t need to score to go through.

54′ Gariseb is booked for pulling Mansare down just outside the box. Mansare’s free kick goes high and wide.

53′ Now Namibia gets the shot, right to Camara.

52′ Soumah (Guinea) gets off a good shot, but in the end it doesn’t have enough power to make it past Mbaha.

49′ Guinea has three great chances right off the bat but can’t put them away. Namibia is looking a little shaky second half.

46′ We’re underway. Morocco are now Namibia’s biggest fans. If Namibia can win (but not too big), Morocco goes through.

Halftime. Namibia started poorly, but gained confidence as the game went on. Possession later in the half was close to 50-50. Guinea is getting more scoring chances, but Namibia looks more threatening in front of the goal.

Second half. No changes for Guinea. Katupose out and Bester in for Namibia. Looking for more firepower, apparently.

45 + 1′ One minute of stoppage time. The whistle blows.

44′ Mansare sends a free kick flying high. Ghana has gone up 2-0. If Ghana holds out and this game is a draw, Guinea goes through.

38′ Benjamin gives away the ball cheaply. Guinea are 3 on 2, but Youla shoots wide.

36′ Benjamin (Namibia) gets a breakaway, but can’t make the angle of the shot.

34′ The play is moving end to end, with both sides looking mildly threatening. News has come in that Ghana has scored, which is good news for both sides here.

30′ Almost a goal for Guinea as Mbaha messes up the clearance. Youle is offside on the rebound.

16′ Namibia is waking up. Another chance, knocked away by Komoko Camara.

14′ Namibia has barely touched the ball, but one of their first opportunities almost goes in.

7′ Guinea has had two corners and two shots on goal so far. It could be a long ninety minutes for Namibia.

0′ We’re underway. Guinea immediately looks threatening.

Starting lineups:

Guinea: Camara; Dioulde Bah, Balde, Camara, Jabi, Kalabane; Sacko, Soumah; Bangoura, Mansare, Youla

Namibia: Mbaha; Gariseb, Pienaar, Toromba; Benjamin, Brendell, Ngatjizeko, Plaatjies, Risser; Katupose, Swartbooi

Group A
Date: Monday, January 28
Start time: 1700 GMT
Location: Sekondi Sports Stadium, Sekondi

Preview:

In theory, Group A could end with a three-way, six-point tie for the top two spots: Ghana, Morocco and Guinea. If that were the case, the tie-break would be decided as follows:

1. greater number of points obtained in the matches between the teams concerned
2. goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
3. greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned
4. goal difference in all group matches
5. greatest number of goals scored in all matches
6. fair play point system in which yellow and red cards are evaluated
7. drawing of lots by CAF organizing committee

Scouting:

Guinea: Guinea are missing their captain, the multiply goal-scoring Pascal Feindouno, after he saw red in the Morocco game for a retaliatory kick. Feindouno scored two of the team’s three goals in the Morocco game, so he will be sorely missed. On the other hand, if Guinea manages to advance to the quarter-finals, each player will receive a $30,000 bonus. That can be quite an incentive for strong play.

Namibia: Namibia currently have no points in the tournament, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely out of the running. They could still advance with a win here and at least a draw from Ghana against Morocco, and some goal differential help. This is not probable, but not completely impossible. They were thrashed 5-1 by Morocco in the first game, but they followed it up with a strong performance against the home team Ghana and lost only 0-1. With Guinea missing their top goal-scorer, anything can happen.

This match is complicated just a bit by reports that Namibia players were offered $30,000 apiece to throw this match. As Daryl said yesterday, the theory behind it being that they’ve lost the first two games and have little to lose. Or pay them to continue doing what they were already doing anyway. This will probably increase the scrutiny of both the players and referees.