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South Africa to face Cameroon in COSAFA Women's Championship final

Linda Motlhalo of South Africa celebrates a goal Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Hosts South Africa will face Central African guest nation Cameroon in the final of the 2018 COSAFA Women's Championship after both sides won their semifinal clashes in Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday.

South Africa defeated Uganda 2-0, while Cameroon saw off Zambia 1-0 in a hard-fought clash in the first game of the day as they gained revenge for a group stage loss by the same scoreline to the She-Polopolo. 


South Africa and Cameroon will contest the decider this year at the Wolfson Stadium on Saturday with a 12h00 kick-off (10h00 GMT).

It is sure to be a titanic battle between two sides who have qualified for the African Women's Championship in Ghana later in the year.

Zambia and Uganda will face-off Friday's bronze-medal match (kick-off 15h00; 13h00 GMT) as they seek to gain some reward from what has been an excellent championship for both sides.

Cameroon came through an excellent semifinal in which both sides had chances to score more goals.

But they went into the break goalless and it took until the 77th minute to get the opening goal as Edith Ngo Mbeleck produced a neat finish to give Cameroon the lead.

They were able to hold onto that advantage and seal their final spot, living up to their billing as the third-placed side on the FIFA Women's World Rankings. 


South Africa were also made to work hard for their win but sealed the victory after goals from tournament top scorer Linda Motlhalo and Jermaine Seoposenwe.

Motlhalo was typically composed with her finish inside seven minutes to settle home nerves, before Refiloe Jane was denied by Uganda goalkeeper Ruth Atoru with an excellent stop.

The game was made safe on 67 minutes when Motlhalo turned provider as she broke behind the Uganda defence and with just Atoru to beat, unselfishly played in Seoposenwe for the simple score.

Entrance to the Wolfson Stadium on Friday and for Saturday's final will be free to the public.

THURSDAY'S RESULTS


Zambia 0
Cameroon 1 (Edith Ngo Mbeleck)



South Africa 2 (Linda Motlhalo, Jermaine Seoposenwe)
Uganda 0


FRIDAY'S FIXTURE

Third-Place Play-Off
15h00 local, 13h00 GMT - Zambia vs. Uganda



SATURDAY'S FIXTURE

Final
12h00 local, 10h00 GMT - South Africa vs. Cameroon