Zambia Under-17 coach Mumamba Numba says his team has performed beyond expectations after Sunday’s triumph in the 2017 COSAFA U 17
Cup final in Mauritius.

Numba’s side beat hosts Mauritius 3-0 to collect their debut COSAFA Under-17 crown.

Zambia’s victory in the regional Under-17 tournament comes eight months after their Under-20 counterparts won the COSAFA Under-20 title in South Africa last December.

Numba’s team achieved their COSAFA Under-17 victory after a crash selection programme that began in early June.

“Of course we have quite good talent in Zambia expect that we didn’t have the time to get around to all the ten Provinces to pick more players,” Numba said.

“We went to just five Provinces in Zambia where we managed to pick from different tournaments.

“And from the two weeks we were with them, they showed they were able to adapt to the situation very quickly.

“Otherwise the overall performance of the boys has been exceptional.”

Meanwhile, it took until the last 20 minutes of the second half for Zambia to score all three of their goals.

Captain Prince Mumba put Zambia ahead in the 72nd minute, striker Christopher Phiri added the second in the 79th minute before defender Kingsley Hakwiya fired in a long range shot in the 81st minute.

But striker Lameck Banda,who was not on target in the final did not leave Mauritius empty handed.

Banda collected an extra prize for Zambia after winning the Golden Boot with the 6 goals he scored at the tournament Mauritius hosted from July 21-30.