Windhoek, Namibia | Angola and Malawi booked their place in the semifinals of the men’s Under-20 football competition at the Region 5 Games in Windhoek on Tuesday, while Namibia and Botswana are safely through in the women’s tournament.
Angola defeated Zimbabwe 2-0 to finish top of Group A, with their goals scored by Manuel Bernado and Luis Panda. It was an assured performance from the Angolans, who edge top spot in the pool on goal-difference.
Malawi did likewise with a 2-0 defeat of Namibia to break the hearts of the host nation. They left it late to score their goals as Lameck Mithi profited from an error from the home goalkeeper, who cleared the ball directly to the midfielder 35 yards from goal and the latter hit a first time shot into the unguarded net.
Deep into injury-time at the end of the game they added a second when Clifford Chisale finished a quick break to seal the win. Both Malawi and Angola finish with seven points and a +3 goal difference, but Malawi top the table by virtue of goals scored (5 to Angola’s 4).
A finely balanced Group B will conclude on Wednesday, with three teams chasing four places. Zambia and South Africa have four points each, Botswana three and eliminated Eswatini zero.
South Africa take on the latter at 15h00 CAT knowing victory will assure them semifinal place. Defeat would open the door for Botswana, but only if the latter defeat Zambia at the same time. A draw would not be enough as they would finish on four points with the South Africans, who would still finish second on the head-to-head rule.
In the Women’s U20 competition, Namibia joined already qualified Botswana in the semifinals of the women’s Under-20 competition at the Region 5 Games as the host nation defeated the latter 2-1.
Namibia head Group A and will play the runner-up in Group B in the semifinals, with that pool to be decided on Wednesday.
Botswana take second place in the pool after the defeat and will face Group A winners Zambia in the next round. Namibia took the lead on 37 minutes through Ontheedite Tokwane as she netted her second goal of the campaign with a shot from a tight angle that crept in at the far post.
The hosts doubled their advantage on 67 minutes as Renalda Angula scrambled the ball home from close range.
Botswana netted a consolation with three minutes remaining through Hope Lesotlo, her third of the tournament to take her joint top of the scorers list with Bwalya Chileshe from Zambia.
Zimbabwe were already eliminated going into their final clash with Malawi but finished on a high with a 6-3 victory. Alicia Chinyoka scored a brace to go with goals for Ntokozo Mpofu, Priviledge Mashanda, Plaxina Bandason and Merian Genti.
They go with home with the consolation of third place in Group A. Malawi were still in it at 3-3 with 15 minutes to go, before Zimbabwe pulled away at the end. Faluna Umali and a brace from Victoria Mkwala were the scorers for Malawi. Group B will be completed on Wednesday, with Zambia already qualified and facing Eswatini in their final game (12h00 CAT / 10h00 GMT).
But there is a straight shoot-out between South Africa and Angola for the runner-up spot at the same time, with a draw enough to see the South Africans advance.
