Staff Reporter
NAMIBIA and Mozambique will tackle each other in the final match of the COSAFA Qualifiers for the Total U-20 AFCON tournament that will take place in Mauritania next year after winning through hard-fought knockout matches in Nelson Mandela Bay on Friday.
The Namibians Under-20 team beat the Angolans with one goal to nil on Friday in a hard-fought match played at the Wolfson Stadium in Nelson Mandela Bay. The match was played in very windy conditions.
Captain Steven Damaseb, who had scored the goal against the Comoros that got Namibia into the semi-finals, lined-up a long-range free-kick.
His effort was caught by the wind and swerved at the last moment, beating Angola goalkeeper Manuel Antonio with a shot that the latter would have felt he should save.
Mozambique held defending champions Zambia to a goalless draw despite playing the final 52 minutes with 10 men.
The Mozambican victory came as surprise for the young Zambians who already have 11 title wins under their belt.
Both teams have also sealed their place at the continental showpiece event next year and stay on track to potentially reach the 2021 FIFA World Cup.
It means the competition will have an all-new champion because neither Mozambique nor Namibia has ever lifted the trophy before.
The final two games of the competition on Sunday, which includes a third-place play-off between Angola and Zambia, will be played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the iconic 2010 FIFA World Cup venue that will be a glorious, fitting stage for the finale to what has been an extraordinary year for COSAFA and its competitions.
The final match will kick-off at 15:00 and the bronze medal match before that at 12:00.
