The stage is set for a battle royale in the 2016 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations tournament – it is the North vs South clash in the semifinals scheduled for Friday, 22 April 2016 at the Ellis Park Arena.
The stage is set for a battle royale in the 2016 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations tournament – it is the North vs South clash in the semifinals scheduled for Friday, 22 April 2016 at the Ellis Park Arena.
Two teams from the Southern Hemisphere – Mozambique and Zambia – will be going against their Northern Hemisphere counterparts – Morocco and Egypt.
The question is will it be two countries from the same region in the final or will both regions be represented?
The answers will be provided when Mozambique takes to the field against Morocco at 18h00.
The second clash sees Zambia up against Egypt at 21h00.
The final will be played on Sunday, 24 April.
THE TOURNAMENT SO FAR:
- No team was able to win all three of their group stage matches
- Only Mozambique (Group A) and Egypt (Group B) did not lose in the group stages – both finished top of their groups on seven points each
- Mozambique scored the most goals – 15 – five more than what Tunisia and Morocco managed. Zambia and South Africa could only get eight each
- Libya and Angola scored the least number of goals – six each
- South Africa and Angola had a porous defence, letting in 14 and 13 respectively
- Angola is the only country to register no points, having lost all their matches
- Mozambique and Tunisia scored the highest number of goals in a match – 7-4 and 7-1 against South Africa respectively
- The clash between South Africa and Mozambique recorded the highest number of goals – 11 in one match
- Egypt and Libya played out the only goalless match of the group stages – possibly the first ever recorded goalless draw
- Egypt has won the tournament three times in a row – 1996, 2000, 2004
- This is the first time Zambia is in the last four – but then again this is their second tournament ever
- The highest finish for Morocco was 2nd in 2000
- The top goal scorer so far is Ricardo Lenio Mendes Muendane of Mozambique with six goals – closely followed by Zambian Adrian Chama on five, while four players are on four goals each – Bilel Ajmi (Tunisia), Mostafa Eid Mohamed (Egypt), Renaldo Donnelly (South Africa) and Zoubeier Amimi (Tunisia)
Here’s how they finished:
Group A:
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
| 1. Mozambique | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 7 |
| 2. Zambia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 4 |
| 3. Tunisia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 3 |
| 4. South Africa | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 3 |
| RESULTS
South Africa 4 – 7 Mozambique Zambia 4 – 2 Tunisia South Africa 3 – 0 Zambia Tunisia 1 – 4 Mozambique Tunisia 7 – 1 South Africa Mozambique 4 – 4 Zambia |
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Group B:
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
| 1. Egypt | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 2. Morocco | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| 3. Libya | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| 4. Angola | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 0 |
| RESULTS
Egypt 0 – 0 Libya Angola 2 – 5 Morocco Egypt 4 – 2 Angola Morocco 3 – 2 Libya Morocco 2 – 3 Egypt Libya 4 – 2 Angola |
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REMAINING FIXTURES OF THE AFRICA FUTSAL CUP OF NATIONS, SA 2016
| DAY 8 – FRIDAY 22 APRIL 2016 – SEMI-FINALS | ||
| 13. MOZAMBIQUE vs MOROCCO | Ellis Park | 18h00 |
| (1st Group A) (2nd Group B) | ||
| 14. EGYPT vs ZAMBIA | Ellis Park | 21h00 |
| (1st Group A) (2nd Group B) | ||
| DAY 10 – SUNDAY 24 APRIL 2016 | ||
| 3rd/4th Place Off | ||
| 15. LOSER MATCH #13 vs LOSER MATCH #14 | Ellis Park | 14h00 |
| DAY 10 – SUNDAY 24 APRIL 2016 | ||
| FINAL | ||
| 16. WINNER MATCH #13 vs WINNER MATCH #14 | Ellis Park | 17h00 |