The Brave Warriors are out of contention for a place at Afcon 2013 after they drew 0-0 against Liberia in Windhoek on Saturday evening.
With Liberia winning the first leg 1-0 in Monrovia, the Lone Stars now go through to the next round of qualifiers on a 1-0 aggregate win.
Namibia had by far the most possession and attacked relentlessly throughout the match but poor finishing and some resolute defending by Liberia put the visitors through.
Heini Isaacks came closest to scoring, shooting inches wide on two occasions, but otherwise Namibia’s attack was impotent as Henrico Botes, Petrus Shitembi and later Tangeni Shipahu failed to make an impression.
After the game Namibian coach Bernard Kaanjuka blamed the referee for allowing Liberia to waste time but it seldom looked as if Namibia would score. Their attacks were one-dimensional with long crosses to target man Botes, but Liberia’s defence kept him in check.
“It’s because of the referee that we lost the game,” Kaanjuka said after the match.
“The referee’s performance was poor. Liberia were wasting time but he didn’t take any action against their delaying tactics,” he said.
Botes headed wide early on, while Eslin Kamuhanga curled a freekick wide, but Liberia came closest in the first half when Patrick Wleh was just too late to tap in a loose ball from a corner.
Heini Isaacks found the back of the net when he ran onto a Ronald Ketjijere throughball on 58m, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Four minutes later Isaacks shook off his marker on the edge of the box, but his shot flew inches wide of the upright.
Kaanjuka brought Hendrik Somaeb on for Shitembi and Tangeni Shipahu on for Willy Stephaneus on 65m, but they failed to make an impression. Especially Somaeb had a poor match, rushing into numerous errors.
Isaacks twice came close, first with a shot from outside the box, and then when he burst into the box, but Liberia’s goalie cleared the danger.
In the final stages, Larry Horaeb and Hendrik Somaeb both burst into the box but finished poorly with overhasty shots.
When the final whistle went the Liberian team celebrated joyously in a circle on the pitch while Namibia’s dejected fans trailed out.