By DPA
Sekondi (Ghana) : Guinea needed just a 1-1 draw against lowly Namibia to join hosts Ghana, who scalped Morocco 2-0, in the quarterfinals of the African Nations Cup.
Souleymane Youla scored for Guinea while Brian Brendell replied for Namibia in Monday’s Group A match.
For Ghana, Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari were the goal scorers.
After the match, Guinea defender Ibrahima Camara said the tough fight put up by Namibia did not surprise him. “We saw already from their game against Ghana that they are a good side. They are strong and we did not have it easy out there.
“We are happy that Ghana won and when we heard that the score was 2-0, we knew that it would be very difficult for Morocco to come back into the game. We just wanted to concentrate on our match and not worry too much about the other game,” he said.
The Le Mans player said that the team was now looking forward to their next game. “Playing against the winner in Group B will not be easy. It will probably be Ivory Coast and they are a good side. Playing against them will be very tough.”
Less than one thousand spectators in the 20,000-seater Sekondi Sports stadium witnessed the match.
Before the match started suspended captain Pascal Feinfounou acted as cheerleader for a small but extremely vociferous group of flag waving Guinea fans, who continued to beat drums throughout the 90 minutes.
Guinea had most of the opening chances and could have gone ahead as early as the fifth minute when Daouda Jabi’s well-struck free-kick from 30 metres tested Namibia custodian Attiel Mbaha, who dived to his right and palmed the ball away for a corner.
To their credit, Namibia did not sit back and had a good chance in the 12th minute when Brendell played the ball across the area, but it was just a tick too high for Muna Katupose.
In the 34th minute, Colin Benjamin should have put Namibia ahead after being set up by Petrus Swartbooi, but the SV Hamburg player hit the side netting.
Shortly afterwards it was Guinea who squandered a chance as three Guineans found themselves facing just one Namibian defender. Youla, when it seemed easier to score than to miss, proceeded to blast the ball over the goal.
Youla made amends on the hour as he side-footed the ball into the back of the net after being sent through.
Namibia clawed their way back into the game and deserved their equaliser in the 81st minute through Brendell who unleashed a powerful shot after finding himself unmarked in the area.
At the end of the game Guinea players celebrated the draw as it gave them a place in the last eight of the competition, while the Namibians celebrated their first point.
Brendell said that the team was happy with the result, but disappointed that they had lost so badly in the first game. “If we had not lost that match so badly, who knows what could have happened.”
In another match at Accra, Ghana, who had been criticised after their two earlier matches, proved too strong for Morocco, who needed an outright victory to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Ghana opened the score in the 26th minute with a well taken free kick, which Muntari, instead of blasting goalwards, delicately chipped over the wall to Chelsea star Essien, who volleyed home.
Just two minutes later, Morocco thought they had equalised when John Paintsil had the ball in the back of his own net, but the referee who had earlier adjudged a foul, acted as spoilsport.
Ghana doubled their score a minute from the break when Essien turned into a provider for Muntari, who beat Moroccan goalkeeper Nadir Lamyaghri with a deflected shot.
The North African side threw caution to the wind in the second half, but failed to find a way through the Ghana defence and as a result will take an early flight home.
Ghana and Guinea join the Ivory Coast who was the only team to have been assured of a place in the last eight after winning both their opening games.
Ghana tops Group A with nine points from their three games, while Guinea have four. Morocco ended their campaign on third spot with three points, while Namibia finished last with one point.