Cosafa: Warriors beat SA on penalties

Hosts Zimbabwe have booked their place in the final of the 2009 COSAFA Senior Challenge after beating South Africa 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw at the Rufaro Stadium in Harare on Wednesday.

South Africa took the lead through Lennox Bacala, who scored his second goal in consecutive games, but Zimbabwe dominated the second period and equalised through Phillip Morufu 10 minutes after the break.

Neither side were able to find a winner though and the lottery of penalties was used to decide the winner, with Keogometse Wolff blasting his kick over the crossbar to send the Zimbabweans through.

Zimbabwe applied the early pressure and had a couple of efforts wide of Jacob Mokhasi’s goal in the opening 15 minutes, as they mounted wave after wave of attack on the South African goal, but failed to unduly test the South African keeper.

But it was South Africa who took the lead on 37 minutes as Bacala beat the offside trap from Keomogetse Wolff’s free-kick and, as the Zimbabwean defence all stopped expecting the whistle, the Santos striker kept his nerve to rifle the ball past Edmore Sibanda from an acute angle.

Joseph Makhanya shot just over with an audacious effort from 35-yards, but neither keeper was called into action in the remainder of the half.

A corner early in the second half from George Lebese caused panic in the Zimbabwean defence, but they were able to scramble the ball clear with Bacala lurking once again, while more hesitant defending from the hosts put Lebese one-on-one with Sibanda, but the goalkeeper made a fine save.

And Zimbabwe went up the other end of the field and found an equaliser on 54 minutes as South African failed to clear the loose ball and Morufu side-footed home from three yards to send the capacity crowd into delirium.

Wayne Matle fired in a free-kick from 35-yards that Sibanda tipped just over the crossbar, while at the other end Benjamin Marere saw his goal-bound effort deflected wide.

Zimbabwe were buoyed by the goal though and they had the South Africans pegged back in their own half, and Mokhasi worked overtime to keep them at bay.

There was only one side that looked like winning it in the final 20 minutes, but try as they might, the hosts could not find the breakthrough before the 90 minutes were up and the game went into a penalty shoot-out. Namibia Sport