Mon, 24 Jul 2017 11:12:15 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO and GRACE CHAILE LESOETSA
ZAMBIA’S sauntering U-17 team has continued surging to glory after dispatching bitter rivals South Africa whom they beat 3-2 yesterday to gallop into the semi-finals with a game to spare against Mozambique.
A brace from Lameck Banda and a Prince Mumba-dinking header within the first half gave maximum points to Mumamba Numba’s boys which propelled them to the semi-final with a formality in the concluding fixture at this stage.
Zambia started the game more purposeful and found the back of the net with 20 minutes played after a good combination and interchange of passes to dismantle the South African defence with ease as Andrew Phiri released Mumba who was in a decent position to stab home the opener.
The goal ignited the boys who went for an all-attacking display and South Africa found themselves 2-goals down six minutes later when Banda punished his opponents with a second goal.
Banda completed his brace two minutes to half time when he ballooned in a phenomenon which gave the South African goalkeeper no chance as his wonder strike sizzled between the sticks to give his team a 3-0 cushion before half time.
However, South Africa’s wonder boy Mothlalosi Nare turned what seemed to be an outright victory for Zambia into a nail-biting encounter as he scored two quick goals inside five minutes at the dead end of the game but the junior Chipolopolo held on to the narrow win to surge into the semis.
Speaking after the match, Numba said he was happy with the team’s qualification although he admitted that his boys became complacent in second half.
“I am happy we killed the game in the opening half. An element of complacency crept in and the boys were focused on possessing the ball instead of pushing for a fourth goal. South Africa were tactically good but lacked the physique so Zambia turned that weakness into goals,” Numba said.
South Africa’s coach Molefi Ntseki said he picked very young boys who were physically and mentally not strong.
“Most of these boys were born in 2002 or 2003 so they are not physically strong. And they lose concentration easily,”
“The boys are young and lacked confidence in the first half especially after conceding the first goal. But after a talk at break, the boys were a surprise package and it’s unfortunate we didn’t get the three goals,” Ntseki said.
Zambia will play Mozambique in their last final Group B match tomorrow.
