Chipolopolo beats Ghana, books spot in the Cosafa Cup Plate Final

Zambia booked their spot in the Plate Final of this year’s Cosafa Cup with a dominant 3-0 victory over Ghana in their match-up on yesterday.

The two African heavyweights were out to restore some pride after both being knocked out of the tournament proper via penalty shoot-outs in the quarter-finals, yet it was Chipolopolo who asserted their dominance from the start, keeping Ghanaian goalkeeper Stephen Adams honest between the sticks in the early stages.

The four-time Cosafa Cup winners would soon find the back of the net however, as locally-based AmaZulu striker Bornwell Mwape opened the scoring on 24 minutes, tapping home the opener in a crowded Ghanaian penalty area following a corner kick.

Just five minutes later, the Zambians were two goals to the good as Ghana again conceded from a corner, this time Aaron Katebe on hand to volley home to double his side’s advantage.

And three minutes from the break Zambia had their third, Allan Mukuka laying off the ball for Nathan Sinkala to fire home to all but secure victory in the opening 45 minutes.

Mamelodi Sundowns keeper Kennedy Mweene was the star of the show in the second stanza, producing a number of fine saves to keep the Ghanaian attack at bay.

Try as they might, the Black Stars were unable to breach their opponents’ defence as Zambia booked their spot in Friday’s Plate Final, where they face the winners of the South Africa vs Malawi clash kicking off later this evening.

Zambia XI: Mweene, Nkausu, Munthali, Mbola, Katebe, A. Mukuka, Mtonga, Sinkala, Mwanza, M. Mukuka, Mwape

Ghana XI: Adams, Saka, Morrison, Akuffu, Darkwah, Tijani, Nelson, Kwofie, Ahmed, Isaac, Asamoah