Zambia’s dream of lifting the inaugural Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) cup was given a major boost yesterday after the U-17 side humiliated South Africa, scoring seven unanswered goals.

It is Zambia’s second win at the tournament after the side beat Eswatini six goals to nil.
The win means that Zambia has qualified to the quarter final stage of the inaugural competition taking place in Malawi.

Meanwhile in a post match briefing, Junior Chipolopolo coach Osward Mutapa said the teams early preparations have finally paid off.

“We have won the game and we stuck to the game plan. We knew South African had the ability to move the ball around and we denied them space in which to play. Yes on few occasions they were able to move the ball but I think we had scored earlier and utilised our chances and at the end of the day, a great result for us. You know football is always about preparation. We did our selection back in May and started camping for a week in each month. I don’t think we are under any pressure, we have played without any pressure all this time,” he said.

And South Africa U17 coach Vela Khumalo said Zambia’s early goal had disrupted his team’s morale and motivation to play.

“I’m not happy with the score margin. We could have done better. For any coach you are not going to be happy about it. Even though you know that you are playing a team that has been assembled for a very long time, I think we actually had one session to prepare and then come to the tournament, that is not an excuse though. What really killed us was conceding a goal in the early stages of the game. And when you play with small boys it becomes difficult to say, so what do we do now? They lose the tactical plot.”