South Africa vs Namibia prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations betting tips on match 2024-01-20 20:00.
One-time Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) champions South Africa face an enormous task to get out of Group E after losing their opening game 2-0 to Mali, who were expected to progress alongside group favourites Tunisia at the start of the tournament. Their fate now depends on defeating neighbours Namibia, who threw the group wide open in the first round by defeating the Tunisians for the first time in their history.
South Africaâs first-game loss was perhaps reflective of their lead-up form in which they had won just two of their last seven games prior to the tournament (D4, L1), including a scoreless home draw against Namibia in which they started as warm favourites. They retain that status on the basis of both a far superior FIFA ranking (66 to 115) as well as an unbeaten record against the Namibians across this century that spans no fewer than ten matches (W6, D4) including friendlies.
An âecstaticâ Namibia head coach Collin Benjamin didnât give his players long to revel in the nationâs first ever win at an AFCON finals (D2, L7), telling media that it would be âback to normalâ the following day as they strive for even greater feats. It was a feat all the more remarkable considering Namibiaâs Premier League did not run for three years, nor could they play home internationals in that time due to substandard infrastructure.
Theyâve instead had to epitomise their moniker of âBrave Warriorsâ, fighting hard to graft out five clean sheets from their last six games which includes the aforementioned H2H with Bafana Bafana. Having accumulated just five goals from their last eight matches though (W2, D4, L2), improvements in the final third may be required if they want to continue coursing a path into uncharted territory.
Players to watch: The referee may need to keep a close eye on South Africa midfielder Mothobi Mvala, who was booked or sent off in four of his last six games for club or country. His Mamelodi Sundowns teammate, Namibia captain Peter Shalulile, scored goals in all four of their qualifying matches for this tournament.
Hot stat: All but one of South Africaâs last nine games (including friendlies) finished with under 2.5 total goals.