Big blow for Young Warriors

SOUTH Africa and Lesotho played to a 0-0 draw in their Group B clash at the 2018 Cosafa Under-17 Championships at the Stade Anjalay in Mauritius yesterday as both sides rued missed chances in a tight game.

South Africa had the lion’s share of the chances, but could not convert and were almost made to pay when Tebello Mosoeu dragged a late shot wide for Lesotho.

It means all four sides in the pool are level on a single point each and no goals after Zambia and Mozambique played to a 0-0 draw in their opener on Thursday.

Zimbabwe’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals suffered a blow when they lost 2-3 to Swaziland in their Group C fixture.

The Young Warriors have battled in previous tournaments at this age-group level and so it proved again, although it was a hugely entertaining fixture that could have gone either way.

Bandile Shabangu scored a brace for Swaziland, to go with a goal for Langelihle Dlamini, while Zimbabwe netted through John Bonomali and Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya. It is a big win for Swaziland who may now feel confident they can go on and head the pool.

Angola edged Malawi 1-0 in the other match in Group C as Netinho scored the only goal of the game.

It was another close fought clash that ended in favour of the Angolans, who are making a return to the competition this year.

Only the top team in each pool advances to the semi-finals along with the best runner-up as the 12 competing sides seek to be crowned champions and in doing so win a place in next year’s African Under-17 Championships that will be held in Tanzania.

Action continues today with the second matches in Group A as Botswana tackle Seychelles in the earlier fixture.

Botswana stunned hosts Mauritius 1-0 in their opener and can take a giant step towards the knockout rounds with another win against the Seychelles.

The islanders lost their first game against 2016 champions Namibia 8-3 and will be seeking a vastly improved showing, though they were right in that game at halftime as they only trailed by a single goal.

Mauritius were finalists in 2017, losing out on the gold medal to Zambia, but must claim victory in their second game against Namibia or they could be headed for an early exit.