Senegal dash SA’s hopes

Tshepo Ntsoelengoe

Amajita’s dreams of lifting the Under-20 Afcon trophy in Niger were ended last night by Senegal, with the West Africans winning the semi-final 1-0 at the Seyni Kouche Stadium.

The South Africans will now play for the bronze medal against nemesis Nigeria on Saturday, after they lost the first semi-final 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Mali earlier on the day.

Before kickoff between Amajita and Senegal, there was some uncertainty whether the game would go ahead as planned due to power failure at the venue, but the situation was resolved with the game starting 20 minutes later.

It was Senegal who piled pressure from the first blow of the whistle, with Ibrahima Drame looking very lively in Senegal’s left side of attack. The left-winger thought he won a penalty for the Young Lions of Teranga after a challenge from Keenan Phillips in the 10th minute, but referee waved play on leaving Drame protesting on his own.

A minute later, Senegal threatened the SA goals with a header from defender Souleymane Aw, but it failed to hit the target.

Amajita, meanwhile, were looking to catch the West Africans on a counter attack, but Senegal players’ huge physiques made it difficult for the likes of Promise Mkhuma to be a threat.

When Mkhuma had the ball, the winger was always surrounded by many green jerseys and spent most of the time on the ground after being fouled.

In the 33rd minute, Aw tried to test Amajita goalkeeper Khulekani Kubheka (above) from a set-piece outside the box, but the keeper was able to deal with the danger.

With a couple of minutes to half time, Amajita got a chance to threaten the Senegalese goals from a free-kick, but the young Lions shot-stopper Dialy Ndiaye managed to clear the ball out of danger, leaving the teams to go into the break locked on 0-0.

Having absorbed pressure from Senegal and defending very well for the most part of the match, Amajita’s defence was finally pierced when Ousseynou Niang’s strike was deflected into the net in the 70th minute.

Senegal will now take Mali in the final on Sunday at the same venue.

Amajita will pride themselves with having qualified for the 2019 Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Poland starting in May.