Namibia put Zim on brink of elimination, Moz beat Malawi

Namibia defeated Zimbabwe 2-0 in their 2021 COSAFA Cup Group B clash on Sunday to leave the record six-time winners on the brink of elimination as the big-guns continue to struggle in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Mozambique claimed victory by the same scoreline against Malawi to move up to second in the pool on another day of intriguing football in the Friendly City.

Namibia took the lead in their clash with Zimbabwe after 70 minutes in somewhat fortuitous circumstances, though their play did deserve some reward.

An attempted clearance from Jimmy Dzingai struck the chest of teammate Qadar Amini and deflected into the net, leaving goalkeeper Washington Arubi wrong-footed and with no chance of making the save.

Namibia made the points safe when Elmo Kambindu added a second four minutes from time to maintain their 100 percent start to the competition and stay firmly on track for a semifinal place as they look to repeat their 2015 COSAFA Cup triumph.

Two second-half goals from Victor Junior and Francisco Simbine secured the three points for Mozambique, the former with a neat finish to get the ball rolling on 55 minutes.

Simbine then headed home following a free-kick as Malawi failed to clear the danger and The Mambas were able to comfortably hold on for the win.

Namibia head Group B with six points from two games, followed by Mozambique (4 points from 3 games), Senegal (3 from 2), Zimbabwe (2 from 3) and Malawi (1 from 2).

Monday will be a rest day in the competition, before a frenetic end to the group stages over a 24-hour period.

It starts on Tuesday with two games each in both pools, with Namibia and Malawi back in action as the latter seek to book that semifinal place. That game kicks off at 12h00.

At the same time Senegal and Zimbabwe will also stake a claim for a Last 4 place, with each desperate for the win.

Later on in Group A, it will be last chance saloon for Zambia as they take on Botswana at 15h00, a game that will kick-off at the same time as group leaders South Africa against Lesotho.

South Africa (6 points from 2 games) lead Group A on head-to-head from Eswatini (6 from 3), followed by Botswana (3 from 2), Lesotho (3 from 3) and Zambia (0 from 2).

The top two teams in each of the groups advance to the semifinals, which will be played on Friday.