The South African men’s U17 football team secured a 2-1 comeback victory over Zambia in the Zone VI Games final.

Amajimbos head coach Eprhaim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba promised the nation that his team would be victorious, saying: ‘we did not travel all the way to Zambia for nothing. We came here to win … to win gold.’

And his charges delivered on that promise as they overturned a 1-0 half-time deficit to be crowned the champions of the southern Africa youth competition.

They deserved the goal medal as they surged through the tournament with an unbeaten run. They topped Group A with three wins over Malawi (4-0), Botswana (3-2) and the Seychelles (4-1) and drew 0-0 with Zambia. They then beat Angola 3-0 in the semi-finals before gunning to first place.

Zambia Under-17 beat Lesotho 3-1 on post-match penalties to set up a thrilling encounter against South Africa on Sunday in the final of the SCSA Zone VI games.

Zambia got a rude shock when they discovered that Lesotho weren’t push overs as expected and were comfortable on the ball. It was like whatever Zambia could do, ‘we could do.’

In the first half, it was an even affair but after the break, Zambia enjoyed more of ball possession but that meant leaving spaces at the back had Lesotho being clinical enough, they could have capitalised as they were a threat at the back.

The best chance though fell to Zambia but substitute Kingsley Mukuka from Kasama saw his header from close range acrobatically saved by goalkeeper Thabiso Lichaba.

Botswana bowed out of the 2012 Cosafa Under-20 championship despite beating Seychelles 5-0 in a game played at Nkoloma Stadium.

The Tswanas who will be represent the Southern African region at the 2013 Africa Youth Championship in Morocco lost all their previous matches at the on-going tournament in Lusaka.

Botswana opened the score in the 28th minute through Tsotlhe Leshetla who latched on a Ditsile Lebogang pass.

With only two minutes in the second half Tirayaone Maome added a second before Kabelano Mooketsane piled more misery on the Islanders a minute later.

Hosts Zambia and South Africa played out a thrilling 0-0 draw in the men’s Under-17 football competition on day four of the 2012 Zone VI Games in Lusaka on Monday.

There might not have been any goals, but the Group A clash had the capacity crowd on the edge of their seats in the pouring rain as numerous chances were created at either end.

South Africa's Nhlakanipho Ntuli missed a penalty for his side on 33 minutes, putting the ball wide after Zambia's Paul Phiri was adjudged to have brought down Bongani Khanyile in the box.

Zambia came out blazing in the second half, but chances for captain Langson Mbewe, Spencer Sautu and Chibuye Mulilo all went begging.

The junior Flames of Malawi bounced back from a 4-0 bashing at the hands of South Africa with an impressive performance netting three late goals to revive their chances of reaching the semi-finals.

Defender Lovemore Jere opened the scores five minutes into the match before Wongani Kuchisja doubled the lead on 22 minutes with a speculative long range shot.

Thokozani Harrison scored the third on 55 minutes tapping in a low shot from a Lessman Singini rebound. Shortly after, Singini notched the fourth when he beat goalkeeper Duane Komaine with a close range shot.

Midfielder Abraham Kamwendo completed the rout with a well-executed spot kick seven minutes before time to shatter Seychelles’ chances of making the last four of the competition.

The second day of football at the 2012 Zone VI U20 Games provided more thrilling action as the men’s Under-17 competition took centre-stage in Lusaka, Zambia.

South Africa came back from 2-1 down at halftime to defeat Botswana 3-2 and maintain their 100 percent start to the competition in Group A.

Thatayaone Ramatlapeng scored twice in the first half to give Botswana the advantage, but a brace from Nhlakanipho Ntuli and a further goal from Fagrie Lakay gave South Africa the win. Ntuli also moved to the top of the goal-scorers charts having also netted twice in the opening day win over Malawi on Friday.

The Zambia U17 national team started off the Zone VI tournament campaign on a sound note after they beat Botswana by 2 goals to nil but rivals and fellow favorites to qualify from group A South Africa bettered their score with a 4-0 triumph over Malawi.

The Zambian lads put up a brilliant performance and looked like the team to beat in the tournament though many would agree that there was a lot of individualism in their play.

Paul Phiri was the first off the mark with a headed goal in the 22nd minute as he registered the 1st goal of the tournament before Chibuye Mulilo wrapped up the win with a strike from outside the box just before the break.

The opening round of fixtures in the men’s Under-17 football competition at the Zone VI Games gets under way in Lusaka, Zambia on Friday.

The highly-anticipated tournament features the best of the young talent in the Southern African region and provides a glimpse at potential future national team stars from the competition nations.

The Football competition is being run under the guidance of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) and the winners will be crowned champions of the region for 2012.

The competition is likely to be fierce and will attract scouts from around the region and beyond to the Nkoloma and Zanaco Sunset stadiums in Lusaka.

South Africa have been drawn in Group A in the Under-17 men’s football competition at the 2012 Zone VI Games to be held from December 7-16.

The Amajimbos side will take on hosts Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Seychelles in the Southern African championship that is being run by COSAFA this year.

The 10-team tournament also features Angola, Namibia, Swaziland, Mauritius and Lesotho in Group B, with the top two sides in each pool advancing to the semifinals.

South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba will fancy his chances of getting his side through. They start against the Malawians on December 7, before battling Botswana the next day. 

COSAFA will hold its 2012 junior men’s and women’s events under the aegis of this years Zone 6 Youth Games to be held in Lusaka from December 7-16.

COSAFA chief operations officer Sue Destombes said in a statement that the decision was taken due to operational reasons.

“In the past, the bi-annual SCSA Zone VI Games have clashed with and impacted on the COSAFA Under-20 men’s competition which has been an annual event,” Destombes said.

“For this reason, COSAFA held talks with SCSA Zone VI leadership and reached an agreement that the men’s football element of the bi-annual Games will be played at Under-17 level, whereas the Women’s competition remains at Under-20.