The South African U-20 side kept their hopes alive of qualifying for the semifinals of the 2011 African Youth Championships when they beat Lesotho 2-1 in a Group A match at the Dobsonville Stadium on this afternoon.
Both teams came into this game after losses in their first match. South Africa lost 4-2 to Mali and Lesotho lost 2-0 to Egypt. And both knew nothing but victory would suffice if they were to stay alive in the competition.
The Amajita took a 2-0 lead into the first half through Letsi Kopaeng in the 23rd minute after some fine saves from Lesotho goalkeeper Kananelo Makhooane.
Ten minutes latter matters got worse for Lesotho when a mistake by their keeper Makhooan saw them go two goals down as Lucky Nguzana grabbed his third goal of the tournament.
In the second Lesotho came out with some attacking intent, but they struggled to get the better of the Amajita defence and as the half progressed they looked to run out of ideas.
But in the 66th minute they were rewarded with a dubious penalty decision for a foul on substitute Litsepe Marabe which appeared to happen outside the box and did not look a foul at all.
Marabe stepped up to the spot and calmly slotted the ball home to reduce South Africa’s lead, 2-1.
PIX; Lucky Nguzana (17) celebrates with Letsie Koapeng of South Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment