National under-20 side Amajita have have defended their COSAFA Championships crown, beating Zimbabwe on penalties in the final at Nkana Stadium in Zambia.

Amajita won the shootout 4-3, edging their opponents after it ended 1-1 in regulation time. 

Amajita went into the game at Nkana Stadium on the back of some impressive results, beating all of their opponents on the way to the final. They had scored 10 goals in three matches and had kept clean sheets in all of them. 

So, like true defending champions, Amajita made a bright start, as Nkosingiphile Ngcobo asked questions of the opposition defence in the first five minutes, though his effort at goal went wide. 

Zimbabwe did not want to allow their opponents to do as they please, so they launched a few attacks of their own, but Amajita were able to keep them out as the sides went into the break without any goals on the board.
The two sides could not separated in the first 15 minutes of the second period, but the Zimbabweans broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a goal from Delic Murimba. 

Amajita responded in the final 10 minutes of the game with a goal from in-form Orlando Pirates striker Lyle Foster, who rattled the back of the net following an assist from Mamelodi Sundowns’ reserve team captain Promise Mkhuma. 

The match had to be decided on penalties and it was Amajita who held their nerve in the shootout. 

Amajita’s next assignment will be the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Niger from February 2-17.

Niger, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mali and South Africa are in the competition that serves as a qualifier for the 2019 Fifa World Cup in Poland.