Zambia beat Zimbabwe in final

Zambia confirmed their status as the best side in the men’s football competition at the African Union Sports Commission (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on Sunday when they claimed the gold medal with a 3-0 victory over the host nation in the final.

The Zambians have been the most impressive side in the competition over the last 10 days and now have the tournament win to show for it after a hard-fought final at the Barbourfields Stadium.

Zambia had scored 16 goals in their four matches coming into the final, conceding just one, and although they found the going tougher against a resilient Zimbabwe side, pulled through with a fine second half performance.

After a goalless first half in which both goalkeepers had work to do, Zambia sieved the initiative after the break when Patrick Ngoma, one of the stars of the tournament, netted seven minutes into the second period.

Ngoma, who got a hat-trick in the 4-0 semifinal win over Malawi, converted a right-wing cross from Chrispin Sakulanda.

And four minutes later it was 2-0 with substitute Harrison Musonda converting a Charles Shezongo cross that this time came from the left.

The game was sealed with 15 minutes remaining when Sakulanda was felled in the box and Solomon Sakala stepped up to convert the penalty.

Zimbabwe can still be proud of their silver medal performance and showed that the future of their football is certainly bright.

Earlier in the bronze-medal match, Namibia came from goal down to claim the medal with a 2- 1 success over Malawi.

After Malawi had dominated the first half, the goal their play deserved finally came with just seconds remaining before the break.

Yusuf Luwanda smashed the ball into the back of the net from 15-yards with his effort wrong- footing Namibia goalkeeper Donovan Gainub.

But the game changed just three minutes after halftime when Namibia were awarded penalty following a foul by Nickson Nyasulu on George Hummel. The latter picked himself up to convert from the spot and make the score 1-1.

The momentum was now with the Young Brave Warriors and they had the lead when Hiha Katijivena when he fired home from range.

They held onto their advantage after that and secured third place at the tournament and the bronze medal.