The Men’s U20 National Team are off to the COSAFA Championship semi-finals, following a 2-0 win over Comoros on Tuesday afternoon at the ABB Stadium in Mozambique. The victory, curtesy of Downs’ Siyabonga Mabena and Amakhosi’s Ofentse Kgosana’s heroics, hit the nail on the coffin for the rest of the Group C teams, as this cemented South Africa’s spot in the semi-finals.
The encounter against Comoros was not a walk in the park as goals were not raining the same way they were in their previous two encounters, despite just needing a draw to book a semi-final spot. 15 minutes into the match, there was a chance for the U20 men to open the scoring through Mabena, but the youngster couldn’t get to the ball on time as the goalkeeper found it first.
Kgosana also created a clear-cut chance in the death of the first stanza, which could have broken the deadlock, but the Comoros goalkeeper was out to deny the visitors a goal. The two sides went to the break goalless.
The second stanza came with two changes for South Africa, with coach Raymond Mdaka introducing Xhosa Manyana and Downs’ Kutlwano Letlhaku. A minute into the restart, from a very tight angle on the right, Mabena hit a shot that found the back of the net, breaking the deadlock for Amajita.
Before the 80-minute mark, South Africa were forced to play with one man down after marching orders were given by the referee. This forced coach Raymond to make a few changes, introducing another player from the Pretoria-based side, Gomolemo Kekana. Towards the end of play, Kgosana found the back of the net through Thato Sibiya’s pass on the left, to make it two goals for Amajita.
South Africa will head to the semi-finals to face Group B winners, Angola, having not conceded a goal in the group stages. They will look to continue their unbeaten streak on Thursday at 12H00, to book a spot in the final.
How they lined up: Mazhamba, Sibiya, Mbokazi, Taunyana, Autata ©, Maku, Manyanam Kgosana, Witbooi, Mabena, Bomelo.
Subs: Lowe, Timba, Kekana, Ashene, Campbell, Letlhaku, April, Smith, Ratisani.