Banyana to meet Cameroon in Cosafa Cup final

Banyana Banyana defeated Uganda 2-0, while Cameroon saw off Zambia 1-0 in a hard-fought clash in the first game of the day as they gained revenge for a group stage loss by the same scoreline to the She-Polopolo.

South Africa and Cameroon will contest the decider this year at the Wolfson Stadium on Saturday with a 12h00 kick-off. It will be a titanic battle between two sides who have qualified for the African Women’s Championship in Ghana later in the year.

Zambia and Uganda will face-off Friday’s bronze-medal match (kick-off 15h00) as they seek to gain some reward from what has been an excellent championship for both sides.

Cameroon came through an excellent semifinal in which both sides had chances to score more goals.

But they went into the break goalless and it took until the 77thminute to get the opening goal as Edith Ngo Mbeleck produced a neat finish to give Cameroon the lead.

They were able to hold on to that advantage and seal their final spot, living up to their billing as the third-placed side on the FIFA Women’s World Rankings.

South Africa were also made to work hard for their win but sealed the victory after goals from tournament top-scorer Linda Motlhalo and Jermaine Seoposenwe.

Motlhalo was typically composed with her finish inside seven minutes to settle home nerves before Refiloe Jane was denied by Uganda goalkeeper Ruth Atoru with an excellent stop.

The game was made safe on 67 minutes when Motlhalo then turned provider as she broke behind the Uganda defence and with just Atoru to beat, unselfishly played in Seoposenwe for the simple score.

Thursday’s semifinal results:
(At Wolfson Stadium)
Zambia 0 Cameroon 1 (Edith Ngo Mbeleck)
South Africa 2 (Linda Motlhalo, Jermaine Seoposenwe) Uganda 0

Friday’s fixture, third-place play-off:
(At Wolfson Stadium)
13h00: Zambia vs Uganda

Saturday final:
(At Wolfson Stadium)
12h00: South Africa vs Cameroon

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