South Africa to Face Zambia in COSAFA Under-17 Semi-Finals
Following an impressive showing in the group stages by both the South African Under-17 and Zambian Under-17 teams, the two sides are set to face off in the COSAFA Cup semi-finals. The match is scheduled for Wednesday, 11 December 2024, at UJ AW Mulder Stadium, kicking off at 15:00.
South Africa has netted 10 goals and conceded only 2 in the tournament so far, while Zambia boasts an even stronger record, scoring 14 goals and allowing just 1. This has positioned Zambia as the favorites heading into the semi-finals.
Zambian coach Ian Bakala expressed confidence in his team’s chances of winning the 2024 COSAFA Under-17 title. “I don’t think there’s another team than us. (Us) We are here to defeat any team. There’s nothing like South Africa, Botswana or something but we are champions and we just have to defend (the cup).” said Bakala
Image: Ngcobo2010 Sharp Eye
Zambia’s route to the semi-finals included dominant victories over Namibia (10-0), Zimbabwe (5-1), and Eswatini (1-0). South Africa, on the other hand, secured wins against Botswana (4-0), Comoros (3-0), and Mauritius (3-2). However, South Africa’s coach, Vela Khumalo, admitted mixed feelings about his team’s performance in their narrow 3-2 win over Mauritius. “The positives is that we scored goals in that critical moment of the game where we say the first 15-20 minutes we must have goals which we did. Those were the positives.”said Khumalo. “The negatives will then be (that) we did not want to concede and we conceded goals and that was our plan not to concede.” concluded coach Vela.
Image: Ngcobo2010 Sharp Eye
Both teams rested their key players in their final group-stage matches, having already secured semi-final spots. Despite fielding weaker lineups, they still managed to win those games, underscoring their depth and quality.
The winner of Wednesday’s clash will go on to face either Angola or Zimbabwe in the 2024 COSAFA Under-17 final, which is set to take place on Friday, 13 December 2024, at the University of Johannesburg, Soweto Campus, at 15:00.
Below are the post-match remarks from both coaches after their respective final group-stage games: