U17 Girls’ COSAFA Championship: Teenage referee makes history as Zambia triumph over Botswana in the final

Zambia have cruised to the Girls’ Under-17 football crown at the Region 5 Youth Games Maseru 2020 with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Botswana in the final at the Setsotso Stadium on Monday.

Jessy Zulu opened the scoring in the 13th minute before Lucy Kajiya doubled the lead on the 39 minutes to give Zambia the halftime lead. Lubasi Pumulo resumed the scoring in the 68th minute and Gracious Tailoshi extended the lead and sealed the win two minutes later.

The captain of the side, Lubasi Pumulo led from the front and contributed a goal in the huge win, resulting in her getting her second Player of the Match award.

The captain also won the ultimate prize, as she’s crowned the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

Pumulo will benefit from the COSAFA and La Liga partnership that will see her travel to Spain to witness training sessions at big clubs, learn the football culture among other lifetime opportunities.

Chitete Musanka won the best Goalkeeper of the Tournament Award for not conceding any goal in their three matches.

With three goals in three matches, Lucy Kajiya picked the Top Scorer of the Tournament Award.

History was made as 17 year-old referee Raphael Mbotela took charge in a game which was televised live on Supersport (DStv) to become the youngest referee in the world to officiate national team’s game. Mbotela, who was fourth official in the U17 Boys match between Angola and Botswana, was assisted by Musa Nkomo of Eswatini and Aldair Carmelino of Angola.

“I am extremely happy with the performance of the young boy. He did everything right,” COSAFA Referees Manager Felix Tangawarima said. “We had the boy for five days in the pre-tournament course and the bottom line is we are very happy and excited about him.

“We will assign an Instructor in Zambia to continue developing him. I urge other national associations to identify and develop these youngsters as well.”

Runners-up, Botswana were awarded the Fair Play Club award.