Namibia first to reach 2013 Cosafa Cup quarterfinals

Namibia are the first country in the preliminary group stages to reach the 2013 Cosafa Cup quarterfinals after a dramatic comeback to beat Seychelles 4-2 at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka.

The Brave Warriors will meet Bafana-Bafana at the same venue on Saturday for a place in the July 17 semifinals.

However, Namibia fought back twice to pick up the three points they needed to qualify for the last eight from there allotted two Group A games on maximum six points after earlier beating Mauritius 2-1 in the tournament opener on July 6.

Namibia were stunned after Yves Zialor put Seychelles ahead in the 10th minute.

Sadney Urikhob levelled scores in the 25th minute but Zialor put Seychelles back in the lead in the 37th minute after pouncing on a loose ball after some slapstick goalkeeping by Virgil Vries.

The two sides went 2-2 into the break through Ananias Gerbhart.

Gerbhart put Namibia ahead just after the restart in second half fraught with poor finishing by both sides.

Neville Tjiueza cemented Namibia’s win in the 88th minute with an unstoppable volley on the rebound to dash Seychelles hopes of a major upset on Monday at the tournament