ABRAM Tjahikika struck a hat-trick for Namibia to take him to the top of the scorer’s charts at the 2016 Cosafa u17 Championships and earn his country a place in Friday’s semifinals.
Namibia defeated Seychelles 4-1 on Wednesday to secure second spot in Group A behind leaders South Africa, who defeated Mauritius 2-0 to keep up their 100 percent record at the tournament.
It means the semifinals line-up is complete with the South Africans to play Group B runners-up Malawi (kick-off 13h00 local; 09h00 GMT) and Namibia to tackle Zambia (kick-off 13h00 local; 09h00 GMT).
Both matches will be played at the Stade St Francois Xavier in Port Louis.
Tjahikika’s hat-trick takes him to four goals in the tournament, one ahead of Peter Banda from Malawi and Nicholas Mulilo of Zambia.
Eldery Morgan got the other goal for Namibia in a dominant performance, with the Seychelles scoring a consolation, and a first goal of the competition, through Mathiot Juninho.
South Africa finished their game with 10 men after a red card for Mswati Mavuso, who had earlier put them ahead in the match a minute before halftime.
But they continued to battle away and grabbed a second goal when S’miso Bophela was fouled in the box and Tyreese Pillay converted from the spot.
Like Zambia, South Africa have yet to concede a goal in the competition and those two will be favourites for Sunday’s final.
But Malawi and Namibia have both shown they can be a match for anybody and be eager to cause an upset on Friday.
WEDNESDAY’S GROUP A RESULTS
Seychelles 1 (Juninho 57′) Namibia 4 (Tjahikika 30′, 47′, 76′, Morgan 90′)’
South Africa 2 (Mavuso 44′, Pillay 74′) Mauritius 0
FRIDAY’S SEMI-FINAL FIXTURES’
South Africa vs Malawi (KO 13h00 local; 09h00 GMT) ‘
Zambia vs Namibia (KO 16h00 local; 12h00 GMT)
STANDINGS
Group A P W D L GF GA Pts
South Africa 3 3 0 0 7 0 9
Namibia 3 2 0 1 7 6 6
Mauritius 3 1 0 2 2 5 3
Seychelles 3 0 0 3 1 6 0
Group B P W D L GF GA Pts
Zambia 3 3 0 0 10 0 9
Malawi 3 2 0 1 7 4 6’
Kenya 3 1 0 2 2 10 3
TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches Played: 12
‘Goals scored: 38
