Africa-Press – Eswatini. Angola……………………… (5)8
Seychelles………………….. (0)1
The national Under-20 squad played with their hearts out in an attempt to secure a place in the semi-finals but this was not to be.
This comes after Angola outplayed Seychelles, beating them 8-1 to secure the much coveted semi-final berth. The country’s national Under-20 team has once again failed to make the last four of the COSAFA Under-20 Championships despite being so close to breaking a 23-year-old curse.
Angola sealed the best second place finish after crushing islanders Seychelles 8-1 in a one sided encounter played under a blazing hot Mavuso Sports Centre yesterday afternoon.
Eswatini had done just enough to be on the front foot, crushing Mauritius 7-0 on Tuesday afternoon to attain a +6 goal difference but Angola’s massacre of Seychelles took them to +9 to march on to the semi-finals, joining group leaders Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa.
After yesterday’s results that concluded the group stages phase, it means defending champions Mozambique will take on South Africa in tomorrow’s first semi-final in a noon kick-off with Group A winners Zambia to tackle the dangerous Angolans in the second fixture at 3.30pm.
The winners of those ties will qualify for the TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON Egypt 2023 early next year, which in turn acts as the qualifier for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup to be played in Indonesia later in 2023.
Angola sealed the best runner-up spot as they thumped Seychelles 8-1, with Danilson Makokisa netting a hat-trick to take him joint top of the scorers charts along with Eswatini’s Mukelo Nkambule on four goals. João De Brito also got a brace in a dominant performance from the Angolans, who served notice of their potential in this competition.
Entrance in the semi-finals at the Somhlolo National Stadium is free and fans can collect their tickets on a first come, first served basis at the at Eswatini Mobile Service Centres and Nedbank branches during normal business hours.The matches will also be streamed live on COSAFA.TV and FIFA+.
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