The South Africa U17 national team suffered a 2-1 defeat against Zambia U17 to fall in the semi-finals of the Cosafa U17 Cup on Wednesday afternoon.
It was an action-packed first half that brought two goals, two red cards and over 20 minutes of additional time played before the referee brought a close to action.
South Africa opened the scoring inside the opening minute through Simphiwe Mlondo but the tournament Golden Boot favourite Abel Nyirongo levelled matters from this spot but the joy was short-lived as they were down to ten men five minutes later.
Vincent Mudondo received his marching orders upon the VAR review for dangerous foul play as South Africa seemingly were on the road towards the finals with Angola, but the Zambians fought valiantly and were handed a lifeline when South Africa received a red of their own.
Lwandiso Radebe, the towering goalkeeper was sent off after a long-protracted VAR review for denying goal-scoring opportunity by handling the ball outside the area.
This set the tempo for the frantic second half in Auckland Park in a high-level encounter and it was the Zambians who found the lead via Mapalo Simute after 70 minutes, stunning the home side and supporters at UJ Stadium.
Vela Khumalo’s side now miss the chance to qualify for the U17 Africa Cup of Nations and subsequently the U17 FIFA World Cup.
