There were a pair of goalless draws in the two COSAFA Cup 2024 Group A matches played at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium on Saturday, but no shortage of entertainment for the sizeable crowd that came out to watch in the sunshine.
Mozambique and Eswatini finished 0-0 in the first game of the day, a fixture in which The Mambas edged the play with 11 goal attempts to six, but could not find the back of the net.
Hosts South Africa and old foes Botswana also could not find a goal between them as they played to an entertaining 0-0 draw in the second match, leaving the pool on a knife-edge going into the final round of games on Tuesday.
All four sides have two points but South Africa top the table by virtue of the Fair Play record with one fewer yellow card than Mozambique.
The group will conclude when South Africa take on Eswatini and Mozambique play Botswana.
The action continues on Sunday at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium with the second round of games in Group B. Entrance will be FREE with tickets for available at the USAVE Kwazakhele adjacent to the stadium on a first come, first served basis.
Guest nation Kenya were impressive as they defeated defending champions Zambia in their opening match and now come up against Comoros with the chance to claim back-to-back successes. The kick-off is at 12h00 CAT.
Zambia will seek to bounce back when they take on old foes Zimbabwe, who were 1-0 winners against Comoros in their first game.
Another defeat will see Chipolopolo out of contention for top spot in the pool, with only the leading team in each group earning a place in the semifinals along with the best placed runner-up across the three pools.
Zambia and Zimbabwe have a long and rich history of clashes against one another, including in the COSAFA Cup.
They have met nine times before in the competition, with Zimbabwe leading the head-to-head 4-2 and three matches drawn.
That includes five meetings in the final, four of which were won by Zimbabwe, with Zambia’s single success on home soil in 2013.
Photo by Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
