Amajita rout Comoros to reach Cosafa Cup semi-finals

Amajita managed to qualify for the semi-finals of the Cosafa Cup after beating Comoros 4-0 at the Mavuso Stadium in eSwatini on Wednesday.

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The South Africans finished on top of Group C with six points, level with Malawi and Comoros, but Amajita advanced by virtue of the better head-to-head record among the three teams..

The winning score margin could have been much bigger for Vela Khumalo’s charges, but they were very wasteful in front of goals having been in control for the most part of the game.

It all began with Mduduzi Shabalala, who could have put South Africa in the lead in the opening 10 minutes of the tie, but his free-kick was saved by Samir Ali in the Comoros goals.

In the 23rd minute, Amajita’s prayers were finally answered when Comoros failed to clear the ball inside their box and Prince Manku made it 1-0.

Amajita were all over Comoros, who spent most of their time defending rather than being offensive.

Comoros defenders Glenn Younousse and Samuel Betombo were working overtime trying to stop Amajita from scoring.

The Islanders finally had a positive play with Yakine Said, but they couldn’t make it count as Amajita managed to keep the danger away in the 39th minute.

With just few minutes left before the half-time break, the South Africans got their second goal of the match through a well taken shot by Mohau Nkota.

From the break, Amajita continued their dominance over their opponents with plenty of goal-scoring chances created, but they went into waste.

South African finally got their third goal of the match through Puso Dithejane to increase their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Amajita finished the job with only five minutes of regular time remaining with a well taken goal by striker Relebohile Ratomo.

Amajita will now take on Mozambique in the semi-finals of the tournament on 14 October. Group A winners Zambia will face Angola in the second fixture.

The winners of those ties will qualify for the next year’s Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, which in turn acts as the qualifier for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup to be played in Indonesia later in 2023.