Tanzania through to semi-finals

TANZANIA yesterday qualified for the semi-finals of the Cosafa Women’s Championship after beating winless Zambia in a Group B soccer tie at Gwanzura.
Tanzania, who are playing as guests at this tournament, came into this match with their tails up following a 3-1 win over Botswana in their opening group match on Saturday.
And they continued from where they left off on Saturday as two brilliant first-half strikes by double goal scorer Asha Sada were enough to dump Zambia out the tournament.
The first goal for Tanzania came in the 21st minute after Mwahamisi Omary left her marker for dead before laying the ball to Sada who slotted it into far corner of the nets.
Spurred by that goal, Tanzania made women’s soccer look easy as they displayed ball some good ball artistry, which was a joy to watch.
Sada scored her second goal in the 33rd minute.
Ettoe Hamis exchanged passes with the double scorer before the latter drilled the ball home to make it 2-0 for the East African country.
Zambia goalkeeper Mirriam Katamanda had to be ferried to West End Hospital in the first half after hit her neck against the post in attempt to clear Sada’s cracker.
In the second half, Tanzania removed their feet off the pedal and were playing to the gallery much to the delight of their fans who are based here in Zimbabwe.
Tanzania head coach Charles Mkwasa was elated at guiding his team to the semi-finals of this tournament.
Mkwasa paid tribute to his players for showing total commitment and dedication in their first two group games.
“In the first half, we dominated the match and we managed to convert the chances that we created and in the second half we let Zambia take control of the game,” Mkwasa said.
Mkwasa felt Tanzania’s strikers were to powerful for Zambia and the two first half goals made the difference.
The Tanzanian mentor also added that their tie against South Africa to determine who tops Group B would be tough.