Five of the best-ever Cosafa Cup clashes

Five of the best Cosafa Cup clashes

JOHANNESBURG, June 20 (ANA) – As the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup draws closer to kickoff next month in Nelson Mandela Bay, here are five classic clashes that defined the competition.

The tournament runs from July 7 to 18.

One of the great early moments in the Cosafa Cup came in the second tournament held in 1998 as Namibia stunned South Africa’s World Cup-bound stars with a 3-2 victory in Windhoek.

The victory made Namibia at the time only the third team from the Southern African region to defeat Bafana Bafana after Zimbabwe and Zambia, and was one of the finest hours for coach Rustin Mogane at the country’s Independence Stadium.

South Africa had not competed in the inaugural Cosafa Cup competition the year before but with the World Cup in France looming, caretaker coach Jomo Sono was eager to give his squad a run.

They arrived in Windhoek for the game with most of their top stars, including emerging teenager Benni McCarthy, Phil Masinga, Mark Fish and Brian Baloyi.

And all appeared to be going to plan as Thabo Mooki put South Africa ahead six minutes before halftime, driving a low shot past home goalkeeper Ronny Kanalelo.

But shortly afterwards, Namibia were back level as Bafana Bafana hesitated at the back and 31-year-old Stanley Goagoseb was able to drill the ball into the roof of the net.

South Africa were back in front just past the hour-mark when McCarthy showed some excellent skills to dribble past three defenders and set up Masinga for the easiest of finishes.  It looked as though the visitors had the game sewn up, before Bimbo Tjihero blasted home a free-kick just a minute from the end to make the score 2-2 and send the fixture into extra-time.

The decisive moment of the game came in the 100th minute when Johannes ‘Congo’ Hindjou dazzled the South African defence with some fast footwork and his cross was met by Berlin Auchumeb to send the home crowd into ecstasy.

Moving to Zimbabwe, there are not many sides that travel to Harare and come away with a win in any competition, but it has proven an especially tough venue for teams in the Cosafa Cup. Going against that grain were the eSwatini side that competed in the 2002 tournament as they faced-off against Zimbabwe in the quarterfinals and came away with a stunning 2-0 victory.

It was one of the great shocks in the early years of the Cosafa Cup and still today remains one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s 24-year history. At the time it was arguably the biggest victory in the storied existence of the eSwatini national side, who were then ranked number 132 in the world, but came away with a win against a home team placed 67 positions above them.

Seychelles have only ever won a single match in the Cosafa Cup competition, in 28 games and counting, but it turned out to be one of the greatest days in their football history.

The Pirates found their form in stunning style in their opening match of the 2008 Cosafa Cup as they thumped Indian Ocean rivals Mauritius 7-0 in one of the greatest shocks in the history of the regional championship.

Namibia booked their place in the final of the 2015 Cosafa Cup with an epic 3-2 victory over Madagascar in a see-saw semifinal that will forever go down as a classic clash in the competition.

The Brave Warriors would go on to lift the title after a far more routine 2-0 victory over Mozambique, but not before they had to come through a huge test against the Malagasy.

Peter Shalulile got the winner for the Brave Warriors six minutes from time after Namibia had led early on, but then fell behind to two quick-fire goals from the Islanders.

A brace from Tino Kadewere saw defending champions Zimbabwe grab a late equaliser and then go on to win in extra-time with a 4-2 success over Zambia in a pulsating 2018 Cosafa Cup final at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa.

Zimbabwe extended their record of tournament wins to six and were also the third nation to claim back-to-back titles after Zambia and South Africa.

It was a fourth tournament win for Zimbabwe coach Sunday Chidzambwa, increasing his record as the most successful coach in Cosafa Cup history, and he remains unbeaten after 18 matches in the Southern African championship. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman