* To clinch their 4th COSAFA Cup title while striker Depu claims the Golden Boot with 5 goals
* Their star player, Maestro lived up to his name as he took home the Player of the Tournament award
Maravi Express
Angola made history by claiming the biggest win in a COSAFA Cup final with a 5-0 victory over 10-man Namibia at the 2024 edition in South Africa to claim a fourth title in the regional competition and first since 2004.
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Their striker Depu claimed the Golden Boot after scoring 5 goals in the tournament while team mate, Maestro lived up to his name as he took home the Player of the Tournament award.
The Negras Palancas led 2-0 at halftime as goals from Pedro Bondo and Depu put them into the driving seat at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, watched on by Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe.
Vidinho added the third in the second half, and when Ivan Kamberipa was sent off for Namibia midway through the second half, their task became impossible.
Vindinho added a second for his brace and Keliano put the cherry on top for an emphatic victory for the Angolans.
It is the biggest win in a COSAFA Cup final, beating a pair of 3-0 successes for Zimbabwe over Lesotho in the two-legged decider in 2000.
Mozambique claimed the bronze medal when they edged Comoros 3-2 on penalties following an entertaining 2-2 draw in the third-place play-off.
Comoros held a 1-0 lead thanks to Kassim Hadji but Chamito Alfandega scored the first of his two goals, later putting the Mambas ahead to take his tally for the competition to three.
But Comoros’ all-time leading COSAFA Cup goalscorer Ibroihim Youssouf joined him on three goals when he levelled the game again at 2-2 with 20 minutes remaining.
The match then went to penalties and Mozambique outlasted their opponents to win 3-1 as they missed three in a row after Youssouf had scored their first in the shoot-out.
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The Golden Glove for best goalkeeper was won by Mozambique’s Armando Doutor, while Comoros took home the Fair Play award having made their first ever semifinal this year.
From the 22 matches played, goals scored were 47 with most goals in a game being 5 – Angola 3 Seychelles 2 (Group C, July 1) and Angola 5 Namibia 0 (final, July 7).
With three goals each scored from the tournament were through Depu Chamito Alfandega (Mozambique), Bethuel Muzeu (Namibia), Vidinho (Angola) and Ibroihim Youssouf (Comoros) and two each from Affane Djambae (Comoros), Keliano (Angola), Brandon Labrosse (Seychelles), Austine Odhiambo (Kenya) and Michael Tapera (Zimbabwe).
Angola, who became only the second COSAFA member after South Africa to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, first won the regional trophy in 1999, when the COSAFA Cup was played as a knockout tournament for the first time when they beat Namibia 2-1 on aggregate in the final over two legs and then repeated the feat in 2001 when they overcame Zimbabwe.
In 2004, they got to keep the trophy after beating Zambia in the final in Lusaka, winning 54 on penalties after a goalless draw and on all three occasions, Angola had to achieve their success away from home.
The second leg of the 1999 final was played in Windhoek and Angola forced a 1-1 draw to take the title while in 2001 they scored a late winner in Harare to overcome Zimbabwe 1-0 on aggregate after a gritty battle in the final.
They did not participate in the 2015 tournament in South Africa, and also failed to appear in 2019 and 2021, before first round exits in 2022 and 2023.
Meanwhile, Malawi Flames were withdrawn from the COSAFA Cup 2024 following the temporary suspension of sports activities in order to observe the mourning and burial of late Vice-President Saulos Chilima and eight others.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) made the decision to withdraw the Flames after COSAFA brought forward the dates of the tournament for June 26-July 7 — a decision that was made on June 13, which was five days before Chilima’s burial.
And it was also a day before the burial of former First Lady Madame Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, who died together with Chilima’s in the plane crash on June 10 — thus considering the sorrowful atmosphere FAM made the painful decision to withdraw team.
The Flames were replaced at the COSAFA Cup 2024 by Kenya as guest nation.—Reporting by COSAFA website; editing by Maravi Express
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