Lesotho and Tunisia have taken commanding leads into the second leg of the 19th African Youth Championship Senegal 2015 first leg qualifiers.
The Young Crocodiles of Lesotho humbled their Swazi counterparts 3-0 Lobamba, just as the Carthage Eaglets of Tunisia replicated a similar feat over the visiting ‘Les Mourabitounes Juniors’ of Maurtania in Tunis in the biggest wins of the first leg matches at the weekend.
Courtesy the huge scorelines, the two teams appear to have one foot at the next stage of the qualifying campaign.
Visiting Lesotho led at half time thanks to a Tumelo Khutlang strike on the half-hour mark. Khutland doubled the lead on 58 minutes before Teboho Lekhooa scored from the spot to wrap up victory.
Lesotho coach Moses Maliehe remains convinced that his charges will complete a double over the Swazis to advance to the next stage.
“It will be a tall order for the Swazi side back in Maseru as we will be enjoying our home ground advantage. We are also hoping that our supporters will be behind us. It will definitely be a tough game for the Swazi side,” he was quoted by the Swazi Observer newspaper.
In Tunis, a spectacular second half performance was all the Carthage Eaglets needed to send the Mauritanians packing empty. Jebali Chiheb opened the account on 53 minutes, Firas Bel Arbi on 72 minutes and Mahdi Wetherfi signed off six minutes from time.
Malawi were held to a 1-1 draw by Botswana in Blantyre. The Young Flames were up after just four minutes through Khumbo Ng’ambi but Karabo Phiri gave the visitors a glimmer of hope with the equalizer on 21 minutes.
Elsewhere in Maputo, Mozambique managed a 2-1 win over Namibia to go into the return leg with a narrow lead whilst Seychelles were overpowered 2-0 by Ethiopia at their backyard, Victoria.
Niger beat Congo 2-0 in Niamey whilst Sierra Leone eased past Guinea 1-0 in Freetown.
Libya returned from N’djamena with a lone goal victory over Chad whereas Djibouti and Burundi shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in Djibouti.
Liberia were stunned at their favourite Antoniette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia by the Young Scorpions of Gambia. Striker Bakary Daffeh scored the only goal of the match in the first half.
The second leg matches will take place on the weekend of 25-27 April with the winners joining reigning champions Egypt, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia for the second round.
The final tournament will take place from 8-22 March 2015 in Senegal with the semi-finalists qualifying to represent Africa at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
Results
Friday, 4 April 2014
Djibouti 1-1 Burundi
Saturday, 5 April 2014
Mozambique 2-1 Namibia
Malawi 1-1 Botswana
Swaziland 0-3 Lesotho
Seychelles 0-2 Ethiopia
Sierra Leone 1-0 Guinea
Niger 2-0 Congo
Tunisia 3-0 Mauritania
Sunday, 6 April 2014
Kenya 0-0 Tanzania
Liberia 0-1 Gambia
Chad 0-1 Libya
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