MBABANE – South Africa’s Under-20 side defeated their Eswatini counterparts 2-0 to dash their hopes of a maiden continental appearance.
The encounter took place during the TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers for the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) zone played yesterday at the ABB 1 Stadium in Mozambique.
Dominic Kunene’s charges were desperate for maximum points to ignite their campaign to reach the knockout stages of the regional youth tournament. The nation’s last appearance in the advanced stages dates back 24 years when they progressed by default following Madagascar’s withdrawal before suffering a heavy 7-1 defeat against South African hosts in the knockout rounds.
Amajita who sealed their qualification to the knockout stage scored both goals in the first half and were twice denied penalties by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the second stanza.
The breakthrough came six minutes before the half-hour mark just a minute after Eswatini squandered a scoring opportunity. South Africa’s Joshua Taylor fouled Eswatini’s Andiswa Malaza outside the box but Phiwayinkhosi Dube’s set-piece failed to trouble Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Takalani Mazhamba.
The South Africans eventually broke the deadlock through Manelis ‘Sugar Lekhekhe’ Mazibuko, who pulled the trigger from outside the box to beat Sanele Sithole between the sticks. ‘Sugar Lekhekhe’ thought he had grabbed a brace when his well-taken strike inside the box hit the upright two minutes after the half-hour mark.
Amajita added their second goal in the 33rd minute when right-back Milino Nalumango unleashed a low shot that proved too hot to handle for Sithole resting comfortably in the back of the net as the South Africans carried a 2-0 lead into the break.
The second half saw Eswatini nearly reducing the deficit when Mazhamba took a lame shot as he tried to clear the ball but it fell on the feet of substitute Thandolwethu Ntshalintshali who took a shot which narrowly missed the target.
As the South Africans were firing from all cylinders, they were nearly rewarded as Will Henson was fouled inside the box by Banele Maziya but a VAR check came in handy for Eswatini as the referee called it off.
Amajita were also denied another penalty by VAR in the dying minutes of the match, which eventually ended in their favour to march into the next round of the tournament closer to defending the title.
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