The Zambia U20 Women’s National Team has successfully defended their COSAFA U20 Girls Championship crown following a 2-0 win over South Africa.
Zambia went into the match looking to maintain their 100 percent winning record in the tournament.
It was a balanced affair from the word go with both teams looking to break the deadlock early on.
However despite having chances neither team found the back of the net in the opening 45 minutes as the game went to the break goalless.
At the start of the second stanza Coach Charity Nthala introduced Ruth Muwowo for Victoria Mbali.
Muwowo had a chance to put Zambia in the lead six minutes into the second stanza but her shot was blocked on the line.
Eight minutes later, South Africa almost went ahead only for Margaret Phiri to pull off one of the saves of the tournament in a one on one situation.
Zambia finally went ahead in the 74th minute when Ruth Muwowo bundled the ball over the line from a Saliya Mwanza corner.
After going ahead Zambia took charge of the game and created more chances but the South Africa goalminder was equal to the task.
Zambia sealed the win, 3 minutes into additional time as Nana Malanda unleashed a powerful free kick from a distance into the top corner to score her first goal of the tournament, 2-0 the match ended.
Saliya Mwanza was named as the player of the match thanks to her solid all round performance.
The win means Zambia has successfully defended their COSAFA U20 Girls Championship crown and doing so in style winning every game, scoring 26 goals without conceding a single goal.
COSAFA U20 YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP |REGION 5 GAMES
Full-Time
Zambia 2-0 South Africa
(Ruth Muwowo 74′, Nana Malanda 90+3′)
Kudos to our under 20 Copper Queens. You are a great team. Maintain the moment.