South Africa…. 0
Malawi………. (3) 7
Miguel Chaiwa 11′, Joseph Banda 19′, Rickson Ng’ambi 38′ 52′, Moses Mulenga 49′, Charles Mumba 68′, Peter Chikola 73′
14 October 2019 — South Africa’s National Under-17 men’ side (Amajimbos) lost 7-0 to Zambia in their second COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship Group A match which took place at Mpira Stadium on Monday afternoon (14 October).
And although the second team that is to progress into the semi-finals of this year’s eight-nation Southern regional football tournament from Group A is yet to be confirmed, the odds seem to be strongly against the Amajimbos’ side as this was their second consecutive defeat in this group.
They lost 3-0 in their Group A opener against hosts Malawi.
As it stands, Zambia is the only team in Group A who booked their place into the knockout rounds, following two-out-two winning results in Group A.
In order for Amajimbos to go through, they would have to win their final group tie by 13 goals without conceding, and hope that Malawi lose their final group tie against Zambia without scoring as single goal.
In this tie, Zambia’s first goal came in the 11th minute when Miguel Chaiwa headed home a brilliant opener following a cross from the far side.
8 minutes later, Joseph Banda made it 2-0 after controlling a long ball from his teammate inside the 18-yard box, before coolly converting the chance.
Amajimbos weaved a few beautiful touches while pressing forward in search of creating goal-scoring opportunities of their own; however, Zambia was not willing to budge in their rearguard.
In the 38th minute, brace scorer Rickson Ng’ambi made it 3-0 with a beauty of a free kick taken just next to the corner flag from the far side.
The ball made its way straight into the net as it went an inch above every defensive clearance Amajimbos’ defensive line tried to make in leaping for it.
In the second half, Zambia wrapped things up with four impressive goals scored by Ng’ambi, Moses Mulenga, Charles Mumba and Peter Chikola.
Zambia have now booked their place into the knockout stages of this tournament with a game in hand.
In their final group tie, Zambia will face hosts Malawi on 16 October at 14h00 at Mpira Stadium.