Nobahle Mdelwa scored a brace of goals as South Africa booked a place in the final of the COSAFA Girls’ Under-17 Championship with a 3-0 victory over Botswana at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Thursday.
South Africa will meet old foes and defending champions Zambia in Sunday’s decider, which will be staged at the same venue at 14h30 CAT. Botswana will meet hosts Malawi for the bronze medal on Saturday at 19h00.
Mdelwa opened the scoring midway through the first half when her rocket shot from just outside the box had the beating of Botswana goalkeeper Gosego Mokola.
That was the way it stayed until the 64th minute when Mdelwa netted her second, this time beating the keeper from a narrow angle as she rifled her effort into the roof of the net.
The victory was secured moments later when Sinazo Ntshota added a third, beating the offside trap and showing her pace to outstrip the defender before easily beating Mokola.
The semifinals in the Boys’ TotalEnergies U17 AFCON Algeria 2023 | COSAFA Qualifier will be played on Friday with Zambia taking on Botswana in the first of those at 19h00 CAT.
The two finalists in this year’s competition will both book their places at the TotalEnergies U17 AFCON Algeria 2023 in April.
Zambia were the only side to get a full haul of nine points in the pool phase and will be favourites having finished runner-up in the COSAFA Boys’ Under-17 competition for the last two years.
The second semifinal pits hosts Malawi against South Africa at 21h30 CAT in another game that will be very tough to call.
Both have looked in good form in this competition and have genuine match-winners, so it could be who turns up and players better on the day.
Both the Boys’ and Girls’ competitions are being played as part of the Region 5 Games Lilongwe 2022.
All matches will be streamed live on COSAFA.TV and FIFA+, and you can get a full rundown of the Girls’ fixtures right here, and the Boys’ matches here.
We will also be providing coverage across our multitude of social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube – where we will provide news and behind-the-scenes features from Lilongwe.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS
COSAFA GIRLS’ UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP
Semifinals
South Africa 3 (Nobahle Mdelwa 25’, 64’, Sinazo Ntshota 68’) Botswana 0
FRIDAY’S FIXTURES
TOTALENERGIES U17 AFCON ALGERIA 2023 | COSAFA QUALIFIER
Semifinals
19h00 CAT (17h00 GMT): Zambia vs Botswana – Bingu National Stadium
21h30 CAT (19h30 GMT): Malawi vs South Africa – Bingu National Stadium
TOTALENERGIES U17 AFCON ALGERIA 2023 | COSAFA QUALIFIER STATISTICS
Matches Played: 8
Goals scored: 30
Biggest victory: Seychelles 0 South Africa 11 (Group B, December 3)
Most goals in a game: 11 – Seychelles 0 South Africa 11 (Group B, December 3)
GOALSCORERS
6 goals – Siyabonga Mabena (South Africa)
5 – Emmanuel Mwanza (Zambia)
3 – Benjamin Wallis (South Africa)
2 – Losika Ratshukudu (Botswana), Marcel Zimba (Zambia)
1 – Vincent Harrison (Malawi), Lorenzo Hoareau (Seychelles), Blessings Kanowa (Malawi), Lutetekelo Kapowa (Zambia), Dhakier Lee (South Africa), Xhosa Manyana (South Africa), Mwisho Mhango (Malawi), Bennet Mokoena (South Africa), Webster Mzunda (Malawi), Dorian Nanuseb (Namibia), Kelvin Phiri (Zambia)
Own Goal – Julius Banda (Malawi)
COSAFA GIRLS’ UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS
Matches Played: 8
Goals scored: 59
Biggest victory: Namibia 0 South Africa 12 (Group A, December 3); Malawi 12 Namibia 0 (Group A, December 5)
Most goals in a game: 12 – Namibia 0 South Africa 12 (Group A, December 3); Malawi 12 Namibia 0 (Group A, December 5)
GOALSCORERS
7 goals – Rose Kadzere (Malawi)
5 – Nobahle Mdelwa (South Africa)
4 – Andrielle Mibe (South Africa)
3 – Faith Chinzimu (Malawi), Lotang Ebineng (Botswana), Harriet Matipa (Zambia), Lubasi Pumulo (Zambia), Jessy Zulu (Zambia), Zangose Zulu (Zambia)
2 – Bwalya Chileshe (Zambia), Leticia Chinyamula (Malawi), Katlo Ditsile (Botswana), Sinazo Ntshota (South Africa), Olwethu Sosibo (South Africa)
1 – Anna Baziliyo (Malawi), Tatiana Correia (South Africa), Lebogang Dilelo (Botswana), Julia Goncalves (South Africa), Mbapeua Hangara (Botswana), Suwiranji Lukondo (Zambia), Tricia Mabamba (Zambia), Mary Mbalangwe (Malawi), Chikondi Mgodi (Malawi), Khutso Mogano (South Africa), Palesa Mokopakgosi (Botswana), Gositang Motshegwe (South Africa), Esther Musialela (Zambia), Naledi Nkosi (South Africa), Ntando Phahla (South Africa)
Source: COSAFA.com
