Hosts and holders Zambia have seen their qualification for the knockout stages of the 2017 Mopani Copper Mines COSAFA Under-20 Championships thrown in doubt after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Malawi in their second Group A clash at the Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe on Friday.
The result leaves Zambia with just a single point from their two matches, and they must now hope to secure the best runner-up spot in the three pools to have any chance of reaching the semifinals. The result leaves them with a single point from two games, three behind Uganda and Malawi, who meet in their final pool fixture on Monday.
There were little in the way of clear-cut chances in a game in which both sides were reduced to long-range efforts.
Earlier. Uganda were held to a 2-2 draw by Swaziland in a see-saw encounter in which they initially trailed, before grabbing the lead and then giving it up again late on.
Muzi Tsabedze had Swaziland ahead midway through the first half as he blasted the ball home from the edge of the box and into the top corner.
But Mohammed Shaban, who netted a brace in the 2-0 win over Zambia on Wednesday, drew his side level with a header after Swaziland goalkeeper Mlamuli Lukhele had spilled the ball into his path.
Swaziland had a number of chances to regain the lead, but fell behind when Allan Okello finished a swift counter and he scored on the turn from the edge of the box.
It looked as though Uganda would hold on for the win, but Order Mamba grabbed his second of the tournament in injury-time to claim what could be a vital point for the Swazis.
Namibia secured victory over Angola in Group C with an early goal from Enzo Mungendje in what proved a hard-fought win. He netted after the ball fell kindly to him from a rebound after a free-kick.
Antonio Quintas fired a shot wide for Angola, while Antonio Nguendelamba fluffed a good chance in the second half, which was as close as they came to find an equaliser.
Saturday’s action sees both matches in Group B, as North African guest nation Egypt take on Mauritius (11h30 local; 09h30 GMT) and South Africa take on Mozambique (14h30 local; 12h30 GMT).
Egypt won their 1-0 and South Africa were 2-0 winners in their first encounter, with those two sides set to meet in their final games on Monday.
It means any slip-ups now could prove crucial and both will be desperate to keep on winning.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Group C
Angola 0 Namibia 1 (Mungendje 14’)
Group A
Uganda 2 (Shaban 30’, Okello 52’) Swaziland 2 (Tsabedze 24’, Mamba 90’)
Malawi 0 Zambia 0
SATURDAY’S FIXTURES
Group B
11h30 (09h30 GMT): Egypt vs Mauritius – Nkana Stadium
14h30 (12h30 GMT): Mozambique vs South Africa – Nkana Stadium
STANDINGS
Group A P W D L GF GA GD Pts
Uganda 2 1 1 0 4 2 +2 4
Malawi 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 4
Swaziland 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1
Zambia 2 0 1 1 0 2 -2 1
Group B P W D L GF GA GD Pts
South Africa 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
Egypt 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3
Mozambique 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
Mauritius 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0
Group C P W D L GF GA GD Pts
Namibia 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3
Lesotho 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Zimbabwe 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Angola 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches Played: 8
Goals scored: 15
Biggest victory: Zambia 0 Uganda 2 (Group A, December 6)
Most goals in a game: 5 – Swaziland 2 Malawi 3 (Group A, December 6)
GOALSCORERS
3 goals – Muhammad Shaban (Uganda).
2 – Lyle Foster (South Africa), Order Mamba (Swaziland), Patrick Phiri (Malawi), Muzi Tsabedze (Swaziland).
1 – Hussein Abdelkader (Egypt), Peter Banda (Malawi), Enzo Mungendje (Namibia), Allan Okello (Uganda).
