Namibia forward Deon Hotto has revealed how Pitso Mosimane inspired him to that historic goal, which saw his country secure their first-ever win at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Orlando Pirates utility-man, who’s been used primarily as a wing-back at club level this season, produced a tireless display on the wing against Africa’s third-ranked side Tunisia and popped up in the 87th minute to score a winner for his national team.
It puts The Brave Warriors into a strong position going into their clash against Bafana Bafana on Sunday, as South Africa fell to a 2-0 defeat in their opener against Mali.
But not getting ahead of what transpired on Tuesday evening at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, Hotto revealed how Mosimane was an unlikely source of inspiration going into the game.
“[This win] shows that if you just put in the hard work, it will pay off, there’s a tweet that I read from coach Pitso Mosimane on Sunday… he said, ‘Football is a game of tactics and organisation, professionalism and hard work’,” Hotto said after netting the only goal of the game in Namibia’s historic win over Tunisia.
“If you have those three things, it’s difficult to beat a team against that, and today we showed, we fought together, we learned together, we moved as a team and yes there are moments where we were shaken but we kept our heads cool – but it’s a stepping stone, there’s still greater things for us as a country.”
Black Leopards attacker Bethuel Muzeu, who came on as a second-half substitute for Prins Tjiueza, provided a sublime assist, which was fitting for a goal of that magnitude, one for the ages for the Cosafa region.
“Coming to [the assist from] Bethuel Muzeu, he knew what his task was, he actually did what we’ve been trying, it was a pin-point cross,” Hotto explained.
“I read him when he cut in, I knew he was going to bring the ball to the far-post, we know Tunisia like pushing their full-backs high, that’s where we capitalised and we’re just grateful for Namibia [to get that first win].”
The 33-year-old has scored 10 goals in 65 senior international appearances for his country since making his debut back in 2013.
