The loss of form of Mamelodi Sundowns striker Peter Shalulile has come back to haunt Namibia, whose 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign has ended with two games to spare.
Shalulile is enduring one of his trickiest season yet at Sundowns, having not found the back of the net n 11 matches.
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In fact, his numbers start dwindling from 2023/24, as the sharp-shooter only netted nine times in the league, topping it up with six goals in other tournaments, from 39 games.
An average return by his standards.
No denying, with the backing of statistics, the 30-year-old's rough patch and over-reliance of Namibia on his goals, was to blame for them not securing the ticket to Morocco.
Shalulile single-handedly led the Brave Warriors to the previous AFCON in Ivory Coast, after scoring in all the qualifier matches.
He was on the score sheet when they drew 1-1 with Burundi in their opening game of the 2023 (postponed to 2024) qualifiers.
The hard-running star was also on target in the subsequent 1-all stalemate against Cameroon away and scored again in the reverse fixture against the same opposition in an impressive 2-1 win on home soil.
Although Namibia lost their last game of the qualifiers 3-2 to Burundi, 'Sha-Sha' scored in that encounter as well.
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Colin Benjamin's men had somewhat of an advantage after their group comprised only of three teams, following the disqualification of Kenya, but their four points against powerhouse Cameroon shut down any suggestions that they had an easy passage to Ivory Coast, largely thanks to Shalulile and his bag full of goals.
With all the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier matches played in the last two months, Namibia lost all the four games, as the Downs forward remained anonymous at club level, which transferred to the country, with no goals to his name in the current qualifiers.