Eden University Women’s Super League Champions, ZESCO Ndola Girls have qualified to the last four of the ongoing TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League| COSAFA Qualifiers after Herentals Queens beat Olympic De Moroni 4-2.
The Zambian Champions qualified to the semifinals on goal difference as the best second placed team ahead of Zimbabwean side Herentals Queens and Young Buffaloes.
QUALIFICATION EXPLANATION
Zegalicious Girls finished second in group A with 6 points after two wins and a loss but due to the other groups having just three teams their win over Ntopwa FC was not counted in the grand scheme of things for fair advantage hence they were sitting on 3 points with a +2 goal difference.
Heading into today’s games, Zegalicious needed Herentals Queens to win by a small margin or hold Olympic De Moroni who could have complicated matters for them having been on a point before today’s game.
THE GAME
Herentals Queens had already had a goal disallowed when substitute Morelife Nyagumbo opened the scoring with a good finish inside the box in the 43rd minute.
Olympic de Moroni drew level in first half injury-time as Suraya Ali produced a
brilliant chip from 35 yards to beat Queens goalkeeper Lindiwe Magwede, who had
strayed off her line.
The Comoros side were ahead just two minutes into the second period when
Solomampionona Mamonjy hooked the ball into the net from 12 yards and suddenly the semifinal dream was alive.
Nyagumbo equalised for Queens when she headed in a corner to leave both sides in search of a winner. It came for Queens with a minute remaining in the game as
Polite Mabika had the simple task of putting the ball into the empty net, before
Nyagumbo managed a hat-trick to make the final score 4-2, enough for second in the pool, but not a place in the semifinals as they had 0 goal difference with ZESCO Ndola Girls already on +2.
SEMIFINALS
Two-time winners Mamelodi Sundowns who took top spot in Group A on Tuesday and will face debutants, ZESCO Ndola Girls in the second semifinal on Friday at 15h00 CAT (13h00 GMT), while Group B winners Gaborone United Ladies FC from Botswana face the top team in Group C, Costa do Sol from Mozambique at 12h00 CAT (10h00 GMT).
The ZESCO Ndola Girls vs Sundowns match will be a repeat of their group encounter which saw Sundowns beat the Zambian Champions 1-0.
Coach William Zulu and his side will be looking to change that and get a win to qualify for the final.
