Durban – Saudi Arabia beat hosts South Africa 3-1 in the COSAFA Beach Soccer Tournament in Durban, South Africa, on Wednesday to qualify for the semi-finals.
The semi-finals are scheduled for Friday, 22 March 2024.
Saudi Arabia’s Mubarak Alduoasri scored the game’s first goal through a penalty kick in the first half.
It wasn’t long before the visitors scored a second goal through another penalty.
South Africa seemed rejuvenated in the second half and had the Saudis on the back foot. Sphephelo Cele scored for the home side to reduce the deficit to just one goal.
The goal lifted the mood of the home fans, but the euphoria didn’t last long.
Saudi put the game beyond South Africa when Ramzi Dakman scored the visitor’s third goal.
However, it was teammate Khalid Mudhaya who won the “Man of the Match” award.
After the game, an elated Saudi Arabia captain Mubarak Alduoasri said their plan worked well against the hosts.
For the hosts, South Africa, it was the end of the road in the tournament.
“Despite our best efforts as a team and our collaborative efforts, things didn’t go as planned,” said defeated SA player Abongile Gcuda.
“Our opponent played in a different way that we were not aware of… the feeling of losing knowing we couldn’t advance to the semifinal is hard.”
Disappointed South Africa fan Sphelele Mseleku said: “It was very shocking… they have to improve in a lot of things.”
Results of the other matches:
- Seychelles 2 vs. Malawi 7
- Angola 4 vs. Mozambique 8
- Morocco 2 vs. Tanzania 1
