Fri, 04 Aug 2017 13:50:18 +0000
Dear Editor,
THE Zambia under17 national soccer team are the 2017 under 17 COSAFA champions and the lads have made the country proud. Zambia won the COSAFA trophy last Sunday.
This follows Zambia’s resounding victory over the hosts, Mauritius 3-0 in the final match.
The first half of the match was quite even as both teams failed to shake the back of the net or rather score. Hence, the first half ending nil all.
Zambia scored the three vital goals in the second half of the match through Prince Mumba, Christopher Phiri and Kingsley Kakwiya.
The Mumamba Numba coached and determined side bashed Madagascar 7-1 in the opening match, South Africa 3-2 and lost 1-0 to Mozambique in the final and formality match of the quarter final to progress to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Zambia edged Malawi 2-0 to storm to the finals of the COSAFA football tournament.
In the third and fourth playoff, Malawi won the bronze after edging South Africa 2-1.
At the just ended COSAFA tournament, Zambia scored 15 goals and conceded 4 goals. Zambia’s Lameck Banda and Martin Njobvu alongside South Africa’s Junior Malela were joint top scorers with 5 goals each.
Zambia has won this tournament for the first time. Last year Zambia was disqualified during the COSAFA tournament for using two over age players.
The victory by the under 17 national team is a clear indication that our country has a pool of talented footballers who will form a formidable senior national team in the near future.
This victory is sweet and it is a recipe of hard work, discipline and resilience.
Barely three weeks ago, was the senior Zambia national team beaten 3-1 by the arch rivals, Zimbabwe in the COSAFA Senior Challenge cup final.
Kudos to the under 17 national team for winning the COSAFA trophy and ultimately becoming the champions.
E PHIRI
