09 Dec 2020

Despite winning 1-0 against eSwatini at Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South African on Tuesday, the national U-20 men team’s hope of qualifying for Total U-20 AFCON Mauritania 2021 was dashed as they got eliminated from the COSAFA under 20 championship. 

The team needed to beat eSwatini by a wide margin to proceed to the next round of the COSAFA championship, following a 4-0 loss against Angola on Sunday. 

Although they approached the game better this time around, they were let down by their finishing as they failed to convert scoring opportunities but managed to open the score sheet in the 42^nd minute through Tefo Molefe.Despite not going through to the next round of the championship, the players proved their mettle as Godfrey Tauyatswala bagged player of the match award for his captivating play throughout the game.

In a post match interview, coach Pio Paul said for them to advance to the next stage of the championship, they needed to score six goals, adding that before the game, he told the players to enjoy the game, without any pressure but to utilise all scoring opportunities.

“We did create chances and our second clear goal was disallowed. 

We missed chances that could have witnessed us winning the game by 4-0.” 

He was however happy with players’ performance given that, unlike in their encounter against Angola, they showed a lot of fighting spirit and hunger to win the game.

Paul said players did not get a lot of exposure adding that even last year’s championship, they were eliminated in group stages.

“As it is, we only come to the tournament to participate but not compete and that is not good enough,” he said.

According to Paul he had observed that the team always lose their first games, as it was the case last year in Zambia. 

Moving forward, he said there was need to organise and feature in a number of tournaments so as to give players the necessary exposure. 

He said their tactical awareness was also a problem, adding that against Angola, his charges gave a lot of respect to their opponents, something which he attributed to their loss. ENDS