South Africa Under 17 boys and girls’ teams will date their Zambian counterparts in the final of COSAFA Championship in Lilongwe on Sunday.
South Africa girls team (Bantwana) beat their Botswana counterparts 3-0 at Bingu National Stadium on Friday evening.
Botswana held their own in the early stages but once South Africa started scoring, there was no way back for Botswana.
Leading scorer Nobahle Mdelwa bagged a double and Sinazo Ntshota added the other goal to send Bantwana through to the final.
Zambia booked their place in the final after defeating Malawi 3-1 on post-match penalties following a two-all draw in regulation time.
Malawi now date Botswana in a bronze medal contest at the same venue on Saturday evening.
AMAJIMBOS EMULATE BANTWANA IN REACHING THE FINAL
Amajimbos followed suit to see off Malawi 5-1 in the semifinal of the boys’ section played at the same venue.
School of Excellence forward Siyabonga Mabena scored a hat-trick, Thato Sibiya and Shakier Lee added the other goals.
Mabena is now the firm favourite for the Golden Boot Award as he has scored nine goals at the competition.
Malawi finished the game with 10 men after their goalkeeper Julius Banda received marching orders for fouling South African striker Thabo Tsilo in the penalty box.
The incident happened late in the game when Amajimbos led 3-1 with Webster Mzunda scoring the consolation go for the hosts.
Goalkeeper Shabir Muhamad replaced Banda and the substitute went on to concede two goals both scored by Mabena, including from the penalty spot, for the foul on Tsilo.
SA AND ZAMBIA ARE THROUGH TO AFCON FINALS
Amajimbos and Zambia have already sealed their place at the AFCON Under-17 finals scheduled for Algeria next year.
In reaction, Amajimbos coach Duncan Crowie downplayed the 5-1 win over Malawi saying it did not reflect the hosts performance.
“I don’t think it is a 5-1 game but I will take it. Malawi gave us a tough time. They put us under a lot of pressure and we were lucky that we got the second goal and when the boys started to keep the ball it was easy for us to add more goals,” he said.
Crowie said he has a day to plan for the final against Zambia.
“It is a final. It will be a different type of a game against Zambia. Everyone plays for the final. It is a final so it will be easy to motivate the players,” he said.
The Cosafa Championship for the boys’ section was being used as the AFCON qualifier for the two best teams.
The Cosafa Championship is being held as part of the Region 5 Games which Malawi is hosting.
The games involve other discipline such as netball, basketball and boxing at Bingu stadium and two other venues in Lilongwe.
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