Mon, 06 Mar 2017 10:31:19 +0000
By GRACE CHAILE-LESOETSA
SOUTH Africa and Senegal yesterday joined Zambia and Guinea as the four teams to represent Africa at the 2017 FIFA under-20 World Cup finals in South Korea.
Senegal beat Cameroun 2-0 to finish on top of Group B with seven points while second placed South Africa with 6 points humbled Sudan 3-1 to storm the semi-finals of the on-going under-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
Amajita will face hosts Zambia in the semi-finals at Lusaka’s National Heroes Stadium on Wednesday at 18.00 hours.
The other semi-final will be a West African clash with Senegal taking on Guinea at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, at the National Heroes Stadium yesterday, South Africa opened the scores in the 14th minute when Luther Singh dribbled past the Sudanese defence from the left wing and setup Phakamani Mahlambi who easily struck in to give Amajita a 1-0 lead.
But Sudan levelled the scores in the 24th minute through Khaled Osman.
Sudan gained momentum and put pressure on the sleepy South African defence but goal keeper Sanele Tshabalala denied the North Africans the advantage before the break.
In second half, South Africa raised the tempo of the game and showed urgency on goals.
In the 60th minute, Grant Margeman increased the advantage for South Africa before quick-footed Sibongakane Mbatha sealed off the 3-1 victory in the 66th minute.
In the other Group B match at Levy Mwanawasa, Senegal and Cameroun put up a strong encounter in the first half. Cameroun could have taken the lead in the 15 minutes of play but Eric Ayuk shot went wide the net.
Ibrahima Niane put Senegal in the lead just before the break to keep hopes of qualification alive. In second half, Senegal took advantage of the frazzled Indomitable Lions and scored the second goal through Krépin Diattain 47th minute.
Cameroun’s effort to get over-turn tables was deterred by a strong Senegal who packed at the back.
