Swaziland booked their place in the 2016 COSAFA Castle Cup quarterfinals with a 1-0 Group A victory over Madagascar at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek, Namibia on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe, who had miss-fired all tournament, thumped Seychelles 5-0, a scoreline that would have been enough to see them into the Last 8 if the Swazis had not claimed victory.
Felix Badenhorst got his fifth goal of the tournament with a header in the second half to send Swaziland through and set up a quarterfinal with Zambia on Sunday at 15h00.
It was a tough encounter in which Swaziland shaded the chances but could not break the deadlock until the 71st minute.
Badenhorst, who scored braces in their previous two games, has shown himself to be a real talent in this competition and picked up another Man of the Match prize.
Zimbabwe needed the Swaziland-Madagascar game to finish in a 0-0 draw and claim a 5-0 win in their match-up, which is exactly what they did.
They simply overwhelmed Seychelles, who have gone scoreless in the COSAFA Castle Cup for the second year in a row.
Ronald Pfumbidzai got Zimbabwe’s first from the penalty-spot, before Tatenda Mudehwe added a second. Lawrence Mhlanga was a late change in the Zimbabwe line-up just before the start of the game, coming in for Elisha Muroiwa, and ended up bagging two goals to go with his stroke of good fortune.
Teenage Hadebe got the other goal in what was a rampant performance from the Warriors that proved not enough in the end.
Group B will be decided on Thursday with South Africa waiting in the quarterfinals.
Lesotho and Malawi face a straight winner-takes all scenario, though a draw would be enough to see Lesotho advance on goal-difference.
Angola and Mauritius meet in the other Group B game that is a dead rubber with both teams having lost their first two matches.
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Group B
Zimbabwe 5 (Pfumbidzai 23’, Mudehwe 37’, Mhlanga 64, 90, Hadebe 73’) Seychelles 0
Swaziland 1 (Badenhorst 71’) Madagascar 0
THURSDAY’S FIXTURES
Group A
Malawi vs Lesotho (KO 17h00 local, 16h00 GMT) – Sam Nujoma Stadium
Angola vs Mauritius (KO 17h00 local, 16h00 GMT) – Independence Stadium
STANDINGS
Group A P W D L GF GA Pts
Swaziland 3 2 1 0 7 2 7
Zimbabwe 3 1 2 0 7 2 5
Madagascar 3 1 1 1 1 1 4
Seychelles 3 0 0 3 0 10 0
Group B P W D L GF GA Pts
Lesotho 2 2 0 0 5 0 6
Malawi 2 2 0 0 4 0 6
Mauritius 2 0 0 2 0 4 0
Angola 2 0 0 2 0 5 0
TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches Played: 10
Goals scored: 24
Biggest victory: Zimbabwe 5 Seychelles 0 (Group A, June 15)
Most goals in a game: 5 – Zimbabwe 5 Seychelles 0 (Group A, June 15)
GOALSCORERS
5 goals – Felix Badenhorst (Swaziland)
3 – Gabadinho Mhango (Malawi)
2 – Lawrence Mhlanga (Zimbabwe), Ronald Pfumbidzai (Zimbabwe)
1 – Claudel Fanomenza (Madagascar), Miracle Gabeya (Malawi), Teenage Hadebe (Zimbabwe), Hlompho Kalake (Lesotho), Jeremea Kamela (Lesotho), Tumelo Khutlang (Lesotho), Sera Motebang (Lesotho), Tatenda Mudehwe (Zimbabwe), Njubulo Ndlovo (Swaziland), Wonder Nhleko (Swaziland), Obadiah Tarumbwa (Zimbabwe), Jane Thaba-Ntso (Lesotho)
