Holders Malawi made sure of their progress to the semi-finals of the 2024 Hollywoodbets Cosafa Women’s Championship with a one-sided 9-0 walloping of Mauritius to finish top of Group B and join hosts South Africa in the last four.
It was a day of goals on Monday, as Group A also came to a close, and although South Africa had already secured top place at the weekend, they slammed the Seychelles 8-1 at the Madibaz Stadium to make it three out of three wins in the group phase.
Monday also marked the first day that VAR was used in this year’s tournament, brought in for the decisive group games in yet another ground-breaking innovation from Cosafa.
Malawi had started their final match significantly trailing Botswana on goal difference in Group B but in the end took top place by two points.
Last year’s winners ran riot for the highest score at the annual tournament since they beat Lesotho 9-0 in the 2020 edition, which was also hosted in Gqeberha.
There were hattricks on Monday for both teenager Leticia Chinyamula and Sabinah Thom and a goal from midfielder Asaimenye Simwaka, who also represented her country in athletics at the Paris Olympics two months ago.
At the Isaac Wolfson Stadium, Botswana were held to a goalless draw by a 10-man Madagascar, who saw Marie Sarah Rasoanandrasana sent off in the 50th minute but held out thanks to the goalkeeping heroics of Anastasie Soanrivo.
Botswana needed to win to stand any chance of taking top place but as hard as they tried, they met with stubborn resistance.
Namibia finished runners-up in Group A after Zenatha Coleman scored both in their 2-0 win over Eswatini.
For South Africa, Kesha Hendricks got a hattrick with contributions from four others while Paula Moustache’s late penalty meant Seychelles left the tournament with a goal to their name.
Tuesday marks the last day of the opening round group matches with Comoros and Zambia in a straight shootout to see who finishes top of Group C and advances to a semi-final meeting with Malawi.
They kick off at Madibaz Stadium at 12pm, followed by the deceive game in Group D which decides the last of the semi-final berths.
Mozambique need only draw to win the group — and take on South Africa in Thursday’s semi-final — but if opponents Lesotho win it will be a three-way tie, along with Zimbabwe, for top place and goal difference will decide. – Cosafa.com
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