By Cosafa Media
South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, Angola, Malawi opened their 2019 COSAFA Men’s Under-20 Championship campaign with a resounding wins.
Hosts Zambia beat Botswana 5-0 in Group A on a day that contained plenty of goals at the Nkoloma Stadium on Wednesday.
Seventeen were scored in the three games played, as Angola trounced Seychelles 8-0 and Malawi were too powerful for Comoros Islands as they recorded a 4-0 success.
South Africa game
Patrick Mwaungulu scored a hat-trick for Malawi in Group A as they swept to victory and confirmed their promise as a team to watch at this competition.
He got his third in injury-time to complete the first ‘treble’ of the tournament, with Francisco Madinga grabbing the other goal for the Young Flames.
Francisco Mwepu opened the scoring for Zambia after just five minutes, before Crawford Mwaba doubled the advantage in the first half.
Malawi in action
Livewire Jimmy Mukeya then grabbed a second-half brace to give the scoreline a more emphatic look, as Ricky Banda added a late fifth to get his name on the scoresheet.
Zambia never appeared too troubled in the game and it is a confident start for coach Oswald Mutapa, who led the country’s Under-17 side to the COSAFA trophy in that age-group in October, hosted by Malawi.
Angola made a real statement of intent in their Group C opener as they stuck eight past Seychelles, who were making a return to the competition for the first time since 2016.
Angola were set on their way by Fernando dos Santos’ headed opener after just seven minutes and led 5-0 at halftime, before adding three more in the second period.
Miguèl Afonso and Ambrosini Salvador netted a brace each, while there were also goals for Tangu Gastão, Santos Kiaku and Camilo Mbulu.
On Day 2 on Thursday, defending champions South Africa thrashed Mauritius 5-0.
South Africa made a strong start and were 2-0 up inside 12 minutes as goals from Sinenjongo Mkiva and Keagan Mitchell set them on their way.
They added two more in the second half through rising star Oswin Appollis, his first a rasping shot into the net and his second a neatly-placed shot into the bottom corner.
Athenkosi Mcaba added a fifth in injury-time at the end of the game as South Africa repeated the 5-0 scoreline they enjoyed over Mauritius in their 2018 opener.
There were also victories for Eswatini and Madagascar on another excellent day of football, as the number of goals in the competition rose to 26 in six matches, more than four per game.
In Group B, Madagascar made a strong start to their campaign with a handsome 3-0 success over Lesotho.
The Malagasy are back in the competition for the first time since 2013 and showed their potential as Rafizy Todisoa put them into a first half lead.
Angola
They made sure of the points with two goals in six minutes in the second period as Randianantenaina Arnaud and Raicardo Menakely found the back of the net.
Eswatini claimed a well-deserved 2-0 victory over Mozambique to get their campaign off to a fine start in Group C.
Friday was a rest day in the competition, but the action continues on Saturday when the second round of matches will be played in Group A.
Hosts Zambia will hope to follow up their comprehensive 5-0 victory over Botswana in their opener when they take on Comoros Islands at the Nkoloma Stadium.
Zambia have already served notice of their potential and will want to take a giant step towards the semifinals with two wins from two.
The other match in the pool is between Botswana and Malawi with the latter also having claimed a solid 4-0 success over the Comoros in their first game.
This match is therefore a must-win for Botswana if they want to have a chance of making the semifinals.
There will also be a fixture in Group C as Angola clash with Mozambique in a battle of the lusophone nations in the competition.
Angola will be riding a wave after their stunning 8-0 victory over Seychelles in their first match, while Mozambique have work to do after they lost 2-0 to Eswatini.
Another big win for Angola would almost ensure their place in the semifinals, at the very least as one of the best-placed runners-up.