By GARY LEMKE in Lilongwe
South Africa were denied the Region 5 Youth Games gold medal after they went down 1-0 to Zambia in the boys under-17 football final at a raucous Bingu National Stadium on Sunday night.
Zambia had beaten South Africa 1-0 earlier in the week but just like France had rested nine players in their 1-0 World Cup upset to Tunisia, coach Duncan Crowie had also put out a virtual second-string team in the group stages.
Here Team SA were back to full strength, although the pre-match predictions were that this final could go either way. Sibabonga Mabena, who had already netted nine times before this game, was considered the player that could turn the result of this match in an instant.
Ultimately, Zambia shackled him well, but the 15-year-old dynamo had the consolation of being named Golden Boot (he top-scored with nine goals) as well as Player of the Tournament. And Gennaro Johnson was named Golden Glove (best goalkeeper), but that would have been small consolation to a squad chasing the gold medal itself.
It was Zambia who got off to the faster start and they troubled South Africa with their pace down the flanks early on. However, the first chance of the match fell to the boys in yellow – and what a chance it was. Thato Sibiya, the Panorama FC defender, rose well to meet a delivery and he ought to have at least tested the goalkeeper with his header.
Having survived that scare Zambia seemed to grow into the game. They had the majority support of a 25,000-strong crowd who had descended onto the Bingu National Stadium. Xolani Tshaka was the first player to go into the book for a foul on the edge of the area, but the opportunity came to nothing.
Still, Zambia enjoyed the best of the possession and they were creating more attempts as well.
Johnson was called into action in the 30th minute and he did well to tip the ball over the bar and then in the 40th minute the Cape Town Spurs No1 had to go down low to his left to make another good save.
Although the score was goalless at half-time, Zambia had attempted eight shots at goal, with South Africa managing just two.
The first signs of Mabena’s pace came five minutes intio the second half when he raced onto a through ball down the left, before he cut inside and was foiled. Moments later he won a free kick 30 metres out, but the resultant shot was directly at the keeper.
However, this was turning out to be South Africa’s best passage of play in the game so far.
Then, the moment of the match, and it fell Zambia’s way in the 60th minute. After forcing two corners, they kept the pressure on and they worked a short corner that was deflected onto the post. Their 15-year-old midfielder Kelvin Phiri was quickest to react and he managed to bundle the ball over the line for the only goal of the game.
Afterwards coach Duncan Crowie was disappointed at the manner in which the goal came. “We knew Zambia enjoyed short corners and we worked the move to have players in specific positions to guard against it. After the goal we started to show what we were made of and pressed more, but we were already that goal down.”
South Africa had 30 minutes to turn things around and Mabena tried an ambitious overhead kick with his back to goal, but it fell tamely to the keeper.
Now Zambia roared back, as the crowd got behind them. Inspired, they could have done better with a header in the 65th minute, before Gabriel Amato floated a free-kick to the keeper at the other end. Moments later Mabena, who was belatedly growing into the game, smashed the ball into the side netting.
Zambia really ought to have made the game safe in the 75th minute but Marcel Zimba shot over the bar from close range and allowed South Africa to breathe again, despite time ticking away. But they weren’t able to test the Zambian goalkeeper and all eyes were on the board at the end of the 90 minutes. Four extra minutes were signalled – 240 seconds to rescue the game.They had one last opportunity, a 93rd minute free-kick into the area but the ball was well claimed by the Zambian keeper. That was that and Team SA had to settle for silver.
On the balance of play Zambia deserved the win, They had the better of possession, territory and double the number of attempts at goal. However, all was not lost for South Africa. Even in defeat they qualified for next year’s Afcon Under-17 Championship in Algeria.
Photos: ROGER SEDRES
Source.: Team SA