Mbabane – Eswatini Under 17s boys’ national team had a disastrous outing at the 2024 TotalEnergies CAF Under 17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier after finishing last in group B.
Zambia proceeded to the knockout stage after they were crowned group champions ahead of Zimbabwe who beat Eswatini 5-1 in the opening match of the locals.
The Zambians, according to COSAFA.com took a big step towards the semifinals of the TotalEnergies CAF Under 17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier when they beat old foes Zimbabwe 5-1 in an entertaining Group B clash in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Abel Nyirongo scored a hat-trick to shoot to the top of the tournament scorers list, while Mapalo Simute got his third of the competition and Nkotami Chimwemwe scored a late fifth as the Zambia’s took their tally of goals to 13 in two matches and underline their quality.
Zimbabwe had equalised at 1-1 through the excellent Valentine Macheka, but they could not contain the tall figure of Nyirongo and he grabbed his treble.
Namibia edged Eswatini 2-1 in the other game in the pool as Brayton Paulse and Stephen Kamulu were on target. Aviwe Dlamini got what proved the consolation goal for Eswatini.
Zambia head the pool with six points, while Zimbabwe and Namibia have three each.
Botswana triumphed 2-0 over Mauritius to get their first win, while South Africa beat Comoros 3-0 at the University of Johannesburg’s AW Muller Stadium
Having won two games, South Africa lead Group C with six points while Botswana are second with three after a win and a loss.
Mauritius and Comoros have collected one point each and the former conceded two goals while the latter conceded three in their second games.
Offensively, Botswana’s central defenders, Baisana Mozila and Phenyo Lekgetho, played vertical and diagonal passes behind the compact but disorganized Mauritius defence to exploit the space they left between them and the goalkeeper.
Agile attacking midfielder, Tliso Moshaoa, gave Mauritius defenders a torrid time with his dribbling skills. In the 18th minute, he provided a brilliantly-weighted line-breaking pass to KgosiTshidi who netted the first goal for Botswana from inside the penalty area.
Mauritius tried to progress play up the pitch through the midfield where Jean Vieille, Emanuel Annehel Anna and Aaron Leong operated but they lost possession cheaply and constantly put the back four under unnecessary pressure because they had to defend facing their own goalposts.
They kept losing possession needlessly but Botswana did not capitalize on this as they also released the ball erratically after winning it. Mauritius striker, Julian Rabaye made good off the ball runs and his teammates tried to locate him with long passes but he was outnumbered so he was not impactful.
Botswana piled pressure on Mauritius although indecisiveness in the penalty area let them down. However, in the 90th minute, Kgosi Tshidi completed his brace to seal a victory for Botswana.
Meanwhile, in the second game, South Africa took the lead in the fifth minute against Comoros when Selwyn Stevens pounced on a loose ball after Comoros goalkeeper spilled it. South Africa back four and holding midfielder Kamohelo Maraletse circulated the ball from one side to another in order to lure Comoros to press so that they could find spaces to exploit because they were defending too deep in their half.
Comoros mainly counter-attacked where striker Yazid Abdou Chakour was the focal point but he found it hard to beat the South African two central defenders as they simply guided him into wide spaces or dispossessed him.
Maraletse scored the second goal for South Africa from a Stevens’ cutback in the 63rd minute. In the 86th minute, Omphemetse Sekgoto scored the third goal for South Africa.
| GROUP B | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| Zambia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 11 | 6 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Namibia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | -7 | 3 |
| Eswatini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 0 |
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