South Africa…. 0

Malawi……….. (1) 3

Mike Thumo 45′, Dave Tobias  53′, 59′

12 October 2019 — South Africa’s National Under-17 men’s (Amajimbos) side lost 3-0 to Malawi in their opening Group A match of this year’s COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship currently ongoing in Blantyre, Malawi. 

This match took place in a jammed packed Mpira Stadium, where the hosts enjoyed a majority of support from the locals who had come to watch their national juniors play.

In the first half, Amajimbos controlled their defensive line really well, while creating decent chances of their own.

Their first clear chance at goal came in the 10th minute when Tshepo Modise whipped in a cross from the near side in search for Luciano Jonas who was making a brilliant run into the 18-yard box.

The pacy winner connected with Modise’s cross, however, his attempt on goal was denied by the woodwork.

27 minutes later, Jonas whipped in a cross in search for Lyema Dopolo to finish the chance off. The towering centre-back’s header, however, went disappointingly wide.

Amajimbos were soon made to regret their missed chances as Malawi took the lead throw Mike Thumo who, before the stroke of halftime, scored an opener following a brilliant assist by Chikumbutso Salima on the near side.

In the second, Malawi wrapped the match up through eventual man-of-match winner, Dave Tobias, who slotted two goals past Werner Oosthuizen in goal.

The first goal came in the 53rd minute when Tobias scored with a well taken header, following a cross from the far side. The second one was a result of Tobias being left unmarked inside the 16-yard box and easily directed the ball into the back of the net to make it 3-0.

That goal came in the 59th minute.

Amajimbos toiled really hard with the likes of Yamkela Phalane and Neo Dikgale testing the opposition goalkeeper in search for goals of their own. However, it was not to be for the national juniors.