Amajita see off Egypt to reach Cosafa final

Amajita sauntered into the final of the Cosafa Youth Championships yesterday, beating Egypt 1-0 despite finishing the game one man down after George Matlou was red-carded for simulation at the Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe, Zambia.

A solitary goal in the first half courtesy of Luvuyo Mkatshana (right) saw South Africa reach the final of the competition for the third year in a row.

This was the second victory for Amajita against Egypt in the tournament with the sides having met three days earlier in the group stages.

The South Africans started the game on a positive note with both Kamohelo Sambo and Matlou testing the Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed Daader in the first 15 minutes.

Coach Thabo Senong’s chargfrom es continued pressing and made a couple of counter-attacks, but their efforts on goal were not good enough to beat Daader.

They finally broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute when Mkatshana slotted the ball into the net close range.

Sifundo Sibiya wasted a wonderful opportunity to score the second goal for the South Africans when he found himself one on one with the keeper, but he failed to find the net.

The Egyptians’ first real chance of the game came in the 67th minute when Hussein Abdelkader’s cross found no one inside the box with the Amajita defenders nowhere.

Amajita suffered a huge blow when the referee gave Matlou a controversial second yellow card for simulation after the midfielder went down in the 74th minute.

Egypt went in search of an equaliser, pushing more players forward, but the South African back four was able to absorb the pressure and ensured Amajita reached the final with some solid defending.

The final will be played at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola tomorrow.