daniel chigunwe
MAPUTO. — Zimbabwe have booked their place in the semi-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations COSAFA Qualifier in Matola yesterday after a 1-0 victory over hosts Mozambique that sees them top Group A.
Botswana were held to a 0-0 draw by Eswatini and now face an anxious wait to see if they will take the best runner-up prize, which will be decided at the conclusion of the two other pools today.
Zimbabwe have seven points at the top of the group, followed by Botswana (five points), and eliminated Eswatini (four) and Mozambique (0).
The calculation for second place in the pool means that the results against the bottom side in the two four-team groups are discarded, putting Botswana effectively on two points in that race.
That means that should there be a winner between Namibia and Zambia in the three-team Group B today, Botswana will be out.
If that game finished in a draw, they stay alive, and there are a set of circumstances in Group C where they can both advance and be ousted.
Eswatini blew a golden chance to put themselves into semifinal contention when they missed a penalty deep into the second half of their 0-0 draw with Botswana.
Zimbabwe joined Angola in the semi-finals after beating already eliminated Mozambique 1-0.
It was a compact game with both teams struggling to penetrate each other in the attacking third and going into half-time with one shot on target in Zimbabwe’s favour.
But Enock Moyo opened the scoring for Zimbabwe just a minute into the second stanza to give his side the lead that they held on to. The two finalists will qualify for the 2025 CAF Under-20 AFCON to be played in South Africa in January while the two finalists there will qualify for the 2025 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Chile. — Cosafa.com.
Online Reporter