Zimbabwe through to COSAFA semi final

Blessing Majarira of Zimbabwe celebrates a goal with teammates during the Cosafa Castle Cup match between Mozambique and Zimbabwe at the Moruleng Stadium in Rustenburg on 26 June 2017 ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

ZIMBABWE secured their passage into the last four of this year’s Cosafa Cup following a 2-1 win over Swaziland in their quarter-final clash on Sunday evening.

Zimbabwe began the contest with the greater intent, Prince Dube firing two shots at goal within the first 12 minutes of the game. And just 17 minutes in, the Warriors were in front through none other than Ovidy Karuru who capitalised on Swaziland’s lacklustre defensive shape to net his sixth goal of the tournament.

After taking the lead, Zimbabwe continued to push forward, with Dube once again in the thick of the action, beating the goalkeeper but not the post just after the half-hour mark before Kazier Chiefs’ Mitchell Katsvairo missed a sitter of a header and a chance to double his side’s lead.

Trailing 1-0 after the break, Swaziland struck immediately after the restart as Felix Badenhorst headed home a delivery from the left to draw the two sides level. The goals seemed to spur the Swazis on as they went in search of another, Mcolisi Lukhele’s shot saved on the hour mark as Zimbabwe’s defence remained resolute.

PSL-based Knox Motizwa was introduced midway through the second half, and just over ten minutes later he had the desired impact, heading home from a corner to hand Zimbabwe the lead once more.

The Warriors maintained their 2-1 advantage, securing the win and in the process booking a cup semi-final date with Lesotho on Wednesday, as Swaziland face off against Namibia in Tuesday’s plate semi-final. – kickoff.comZ