Windhoek — Traditionally poor continental travellers, the Namibian senior football team, the Brave Warriors, as the team is affectionately known among its ardent followers, once against failed to clear the first hurdle when it mattered the most.

The depleted Namibians started their campaign for the 2012 Orange Africa Cup of Nations on a false note when they were beaten 3-1 by a resolute Gambian side, in their opening Group-K match at the Independence Stadium in the Gambian capital, Banjul, on Saturday.

Despite the inclusion of a significant number of its foreign legion, led by Hamburg's FC veteran midfielder, Collin Benjamin, Henrico Botes (Platinum Stars - South Africa), Tangeni Shipahu (Amazulu - South Africa) and the two German-based Risser brothers, Oliver and Wilko, the Namibians could just not get out of first gear in a group that on face value appears to be there for the taking.

The ill-prepared Namibian team found themselves trailing in the 7th minute when a mistake by the out-of-sorts African Stars' usually reliable defender, Jamu Ngatjizeko, allowed the hosts to take the lead.

Five minutes later, the hosts stretched their lead in almost similar fashion when the slow-reacting Namibian rearguard failed to clear their lines - with the clearly rusty Hartman Toromba and Ngatjizeko the main culprits.

Gambia all but sealed the contest when another defensive blunder gifted them a third goal in the 29th minute, after the flat-footed Warriors' defence was found wanting from another cross.

Coach Tom Saitfiet had seen enough and immediately hauled off the ineffective pair of Toromba and Ngatjizeko. He then unleashed gangly striker, Wilko Risser, and Alfred Ndyenge, in a move that could be best described as a desperate search for some face-saving goals.

With three goals to the good going into the final 45 minutes, the hosts took their foot slightly off the gas and allowed the visitors to stamp their authority on the game that was played throughout in torrential rain and after a very heavy downpour before kick-off had already made the pitch totally unplayable.

The Warriors started to pay frequent visits into the hosts' danger zone, with both Botes and substitute Risser coming close with fine efforts, while Oliver Risser's goal-bound free-kick was denied by the woodwork.

In a desperate bid to salvage something from the contest, Saintfiet threw his last dice and unleashed Fadiga Asino, replacing Tangeni Shipahu, in the 75th minute. The former Hotspurs playmaker immediately announced his arrival as he started tormenting the Gambian rearguard with some darting runs down the wing.

Namibia piled on the pressure and was finally rewarded when Wilko Risser out-jumped a static Gambia defence to meet a well-measured Asino delivery and gifted the Namibians a glimmer of hope with a powerful header in the 88th minute.

Though it was a little too late, the goal was enough to silence the 35,000-plus noisy capacity crowd at the Independence Stadium.

Speaking to New Era Sports from Banjul yesterday, Saintfiet once again blamed the Warriors' lukewarm showing on the absence of activities in the domestic league.

The clearly ill-prepared Warriors only had one training session with their foreign-based players in Gambia, after some bungled flight arrangements saw the team grounded in Accra, Ghana, for an unplanned stint of two days.

"Personally, I'm very satisfied with the overall performance of my players - the boys responded very well after falling three goals behind and if we had much fitter players, the result could have been easily in our favour," said the Belgian mentor who believes there is no reason to start pressing the panic button - considering Namibia's shoddy preparation and the lack of competitive match fitness of the locally-based players.