Lesotho sealed their place in the semifinals of the 2017 Mopani Copper Mines COSAFA Under-20 Championships following a 0-0 draw with Angola in their final Group C clash at the Nkana Stadium in Kitwe on Tuesday.
The result, coupled with a 0-0 draw between Zimbabwe and Namibia, means Lesotho top the pool and will now meet East African guest nation Uganda in the semifinals on Thursday.
The results also confirmed that Egypt finished as the best runners-up for their six points in Group B and they will take on South Africa again in the other semifinal. The South Africans defeated Egypt on Monday to top the pool.
Both semifinals will be played at the Nkana Stadium, as will the third-place play-off and final on Saturday.
Lesotho had to ride their luck at times for the draw as Angola, already ousted from the competition, pushed for a consolation win.
The best chance fell to Jelson, who saw his goal-bound effort cleared by Tankoli Seoli.
Zimbabwe will be desperately disappointed with another first round exit after they were also ousted in the pool stages 12 months ago.
They ahd to contend with heavy rain and a difficult pitch, King Nasama going closest in the first half as he just failed to connect with a Delic Murimba cross. Leeroy Mavungo also had an opportunity early in the second half, but he fired over the bar.
Namibia were dangerous on the counter-attack, but in the end neither side could find the back of the net.
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
Group C
Namibia 0 Zimbabwe 0
Lesotho 0 Angola 0
THURSDAY’S FIXTURES
Semifinals
13h00 (11h00 GMT): South Africa vs Egypt – Nkana Stadium
16h00 (14h00 GMT): Uganda vs Lesotho – Nkana Stadium
STANDINGS
Group A P W D L GF GA GD Pts
Uganda 3 1 2 0 5 3 +2 5
Malawi 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1 5
Zambia 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
Swaziland 3 0 1 2 4 7 -3 1
Group B P W D L GF GA GD Pts
South Africa 3 3 0 0 5 1 +4 9
Egypt 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
Mozambique 3 1 0 2 2 2 0 3
Mauritius 3 0 0 3 0 6 -6 0
Group C P W D L GF GA GD Pts
Lesotho 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5
Zimbabwe 3 1 2 0 1 0 +1 5
Namibia 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
Angola 3 0 1 2 0 2 -2 1
TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches Played: 18
Goals scored: 31
Biggest victory: Zambia 0 Uganda 2 (Group A, December 6); South Africa 2 Mauritius 0 (Group B, December 7); Egypt 2 Mauritius 0 (Group B, December 9); Zambia 2 Swaziland 0 (Group A, December 11); Mauritius 0 Mozambique 2 (Group B, December 11)
Most goals in a game: 5 – Swaziland 2 Malawi 3 (Group A, December 6)
GOALSCORERS
3 goals – Muhammad Shaban (Uganda)
2 – Abdelrahman Amr (Egypt), Lyle Foster (South Africa), Order Mamba (Swaziland), Luvuyo Mkatshana (South Africa), Francisco Mwepu (Zambia), Patrick Phiri (Malawi), Raboama Koloti (Lesotho), Muzi Tsabedze (Swaziland)
1 – Hussein Abdelkader (Egypt), Peter Banda (Malawi), Kamo-Kamo Cumbane (Mozambique), Romario Hawiseb (Namibia), Domingos Junior (Mozambique), Mohamed Karem (Egypt), Francisco Madinga (Malawi), Stephen Mukwala (Uganda), Enzo Mungendje (Namibia), King Nasama (Zimbabwe), Nkosingiphile Ngcobo (South Africa), Allan Okello (Uganda)
