Deon Hotto has revealed Namibia’s intention was to progress into the knockout stage of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023 when they played Mali in their last group game.
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The striker’s excellent performance earned him the TotalEnergies Man of the Match award.
Excited Hotto admits getting a point against Mali was not easy but the qualification means a lot to them.
“It wasn’t easy. We fought until the last minute, until the final whistle. This qualification means a lot for Namibia,” Hotto said.
Namibia knew a draw was enough to take them through and they played with that in mind.
“When we arrived at the match, we already knew we had a point and we were qualified.
“But we tried to have a low block and take advantage of a few transitions. The Mali team is very strong, especially on these sides, so we clearly played low. We contained them but we also had chances,” added Hotto.
He added,”It was our day. As the match went on, you could see that nothing could happen to us.”
With this result, Namibia have qualified to the knockout stage of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON for the first time in their history.
