Two of the most impressive sides from the COSAFA Qualifiers of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, South Africa and Zambia will go head to head in what is expected to be an action-packed final on Saturday 5 October.
The two sides both enjoyed impressive passages to the final, after coming through their group matches unscathed.
Coach Raymond Mdaka’s South Africa side flexed their muscle early on in the tournament, with a resounding 5-0 win over Malawi, which was followed by another 6-0 thumping of Lesotho. It would be more of the same as they dispatched Comoros 2-0 in their final group game, where Angola would lie in wait in the semi-final.
While it was a much tighter encounter against a stubborn Angola side, Amajita would prevail 1-0 to seal their place in the final.
Zambia on the other hand, had a stuttering start to their campaign after suffering a shock 3-1 loss to Angola. They would bounce back with a 2-1 win over Namibia, which guaranteed them passage to the semi-final, where they took on Zimbabwe.
Coach Boyd Mulwanda’s side would make heavy weather for themselves after taking a commanding 2-0 lead, would concede two late goals, needing penalties to ensure their pathway to the final.
Ahead of the clash, Mulwanda says his side is aware they cannot make the same mistakes against a lethal South African side.
“We’ve seen the way South Africa have been playing, we have planned for them and we will see if we can get the goals in that game to win us the final. We have to put up a very good fight in the final because we know South Africa will be coming very strong as they also want it more, and as the defending champions it won’t be easy for us. We just have to focus and fight until the last whistle,” he said.
Meanwhile for Mdaka, he is delighted with the fact that his side have qualified for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, but is looking to seal the qualification with a win in the final.
“We respect any country we come up against and we’ll do our best on the day of the match. We saw how difficult the game against Angola and the other games were, so it’s all the same, we take it the same way,” he explained.
“We have activated a winning mentality in our boys. We understand that you can win, lose or draw, but we have planted the winning mentality in our boys and it’s the same for the final that we are going to play. It would be good for us to home carrying gold but we have one step to work on. We would appreciate if we can win the tournament,” he concluded.
Kick off for the match is scheduled at 14:00 Local Time(15:00 EAT) at the Campo da ABB Stadium in Mozambique.
