Defending champions South Africa ran riot over Lesotho with a 3-0 win to begin their COSAFA CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers off to a good start at the ABB 1 Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Steven Mendes netted a brace while Teboho Mlangeni added the third.
The scoreline was however not the reflection of the match with the South Africans wasting an avalanche of chances.
Kaizer Chiefs youngster Steven Mendes was first to have a go at the Lesotho goalkeeper with at least three chances earlier on but could not convert.
‘Stevie G’ did however make up for his earlier misses as he looped his effort over the goalkeeper on the stroke of halftime for the 1-0 advantage into the break.
The 10-time COSAFA U20 champions were once again on the front foot in the second period with Mendes grabbing his brace of the afternoon with a sublime low effort from the edge of the box in the 59th minute.
South Africa made it 3-0 in the 64th minute with another Amakhosi player in Teboho Mlangeni getting on the end of a loose ball to slot it in to all but bury the match.
Raymond Mdaka’s charges now top the group ahead of their second group match against Angola on Monday.
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