Bafana’s opponents for Cosafa Cup semifinal confirmed

Bafana Bafana will face tough Zambia in the semifinals of Cosafa Cup in Durban. 

All four semi-finalists, Bafana, Malawi, Lesotho and Zambia, of the regional tournament were confirmed on Wednesday.

South Africa, overseen by interim coach Morena Ramoreboli, finished top of group A with seven points from three round-robin matches. 

Malawi and Lesotho finished top of group B and C respectively, while the Zambians snuck in after finishing as the best runners-up out in the three groups. 

Zambia ended the group stages with six points ahead of Botswana, Angola and Mozambique, who managed four points each. 

Chipolopolo beat Seychelles 4-2 on Tuesday to clinch second place in group B to Malawi (nine points). The final group C results on Wednesday, a 4-2 win for Angola over Lesotho and 1-0 win for Mozambique over Mauritius settled Zambia as Bafana’s next opponents.

Both semifinals take place at King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday, with the Patrick Mabedi-coached Malawi taking on Lesotho at 3pm. The Bafana vs Zambia clash is at 6pm. 

So far Bafana have played against opponents that were markedly defensive in Namibia, Botswana and Eswatini but South African skipper Lyle Lakay anticipates a different approach from Chipolopolo. 

“I think they will be different from what I’ve seen. To be honest, the teams that made it through to the semis I would expect them to be attack-minded,” Lakay said. 

“But irrespective of that we will do our analysis [of Zambia] and prepare accordingly.” 

In this tournament, Bafana have developed a tendency to come from behind in all their matches. 

South Africa are sweating over the fitness of goalkeeper Jethren Barr who picked up a knock to his ankle in the 2-1 win over Eswatini on Tuesday. 

While Barr didn’t join the recovery session on Wednesday, there are hopes in the Bafana camp that the unattached goalkeeper will be fit for Zambia duel. 

Barr has been crucial for the South Africans in the past three games. His deputies in the national team are young AmaZulu FC goalkeeper Olwethu Mzimela and Khanya Mini of Amavarara FC from the ABC Motsepe League in the Eastern Cape.

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