Africa-Press – Tanzania. TWIGA STARS have last hurdle to clear as they host Malawi in the 2021 COSAFA Women’s Championship final at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa today.
The country’s representatives marched into the final of the competition after a 3-2 post match penalties win thereby booking a slot to face their neighbours in grand finale. Malawi outclassed the competition’s hosts South Africa 3-2 in an eventful match as they too are looking forward to grab their first ever COSAFA title.
With the outcome, Zambia and South Africa will meet in the third place play off in the early encounter at the same venue today.
Speaking after making it into the final, Twiga Stars coach Bakari Shime said it was a good game to his side as they were to control the big portion of it.
“At first, we approached the match with fear that is why we were forced to make quick substitutions in order to dominate the game which helped us to get one goal in the opening half despite missing several chances. “In the second half, Zambia came refreshed with new ideas and piled pressure on us until they equalised to make it 1-1 but we held on to the final whistle,” Shime said.
He added that they were not worried at all when the match was to be judged via penalties saying they were fully prepared to play them in case they arrived.
“My players were less pressured to play the shootouts that is why even our goalkeeper was able to save some spot-kicks and in the end, we got what we wanted most from the tense match,” he said.
Prior to their meeting, both teams recorded 100 percent performance after winning all their group stage encounters thereby making their semifinals battle a special one to watch.
In their group C, Zambia defeated Eswatini 5-0 and overclassed Namibia 3-0 before recording a slim 1-0 victory over resilient side Uganda.
On the other hand, Twiga Stars produced a 3-0 triumph over Zimbabwe before beating Botswana 2-0 while their last group stage encounter was another thrilling 3-0 victory against South Sudan hence netting eight goals without conceding.
