WHO WINS IT?
Zambia Vs Senegal
Heroes Stadium
17:30hrs
How fitting is the 2017 AFCON UNDER 20 Cup Final?
A glimpse of just some of the firsts in this tournament has and will produce.
- All the four teams that that played in the Semi Finals had never won this tournament to join the group of those continental champions.
- Whoever wins on Sunday between Zambia and Senegal, it will be their first to lift the AFCON Under 20 title.
- If Zambia wins, it will join Angola as the other Southern Africa team to have lifted the converted title.
- For the first time ever, the two African powerhouses, Senegal and Zambia will be meeting in the final of a major tournament at any level. And to crown it this wonderful story, the top three scoring teams will meet in this Cup Final.
- Zambia has scored 11 goals and Senegal has so far scored 8 while South Africa have scored 9 goals.
- Zambian goalkeeper Mangani Banda is a top contender for goalkeeper of the tournament after only conceding two goals the best of the tournament so far. Mangani has kept a clean sheet in two of the four games at this tournament .
THE GAME
The amazing thing about Zambia is the fact that their 11 goals have only been scored by five players in Edward Chilufya , Patson Daka and Fashion Sakala all on 3 goals with a chance up the tally in the race for tournament top scorer, while Emmanuel Banda and Enock Mwepu have one each.
Patson Daka opened his scoring in a game winner against Guinea and Edward Chilufya scored the only goal against South Africa to send Zambia into the final.
Since the Group stage, Zambia has been to controll the games, keeping possession and playing tough in defense and the advantage that the team has had is not keeping much of the ball in their own half.
The young Chipolopolo have found the only goal they needed while playing keep away from the other team and defending.
Zambia will be trying cement the consistent in keeping a 100% win status in this tournament by upstaging equally impressive Senegal who too have no loss but posted a draw in the opening match.
Zambia will need to reinvent the strength of the bench which has not been very enterprising since the removal Conlyde Luchanga in first half of the opening match. We failed to see the same the semi final.
Am made wonder a lot of what coach Beston Chambeshi makes of his bench because it looks like apart from the starting 11, he struggles to ring changes from the bench. A serious worry if the team starts low on the day.
Youngster Luchanga who started the opening has since been relegated to a substitution bench after a poor start against Guinea and has since not seen any play to date. But don’t make no mistake or doubt his calibre, the boy has talent.
A goal in the final for Luchanga if he takes part in any Zambian win would erase possible disappointment the youngster might have haf in the rest of the tournament.
Senegal have been offensive in their play since the opening of the tournament. And the thing they shouldn’t do is underrate Zambia as that made them draw against Sudan.
Senegal has been criticized for the way they flopped against Sudan in the group stages, and the sign of exchanging some unknown substance in the semi finals against Guinea. That saw an injured player hand over to his colleague who in turn tucked it in his stockings.
They have also been accused of being overly dramatic in their group stage games as well. Their best game so far was a come back, after going down 2-0 to South Africa in opening half of second game.
The best record for Senegal in this tournament is that of runners up in the last edition which they hosted. They lost that final to eventual champions Nigeria through a 3-1 margin.
They will be looking to bettering that record against Zambia in this 2017 final, who are being dubbed as possibly the team of the tournament so far.
MY VIEW
This game will be decided the team that can impose their style of play against the opponent. It will probably be a game of fewer chances and cautious. It worth mentioning here once more that these finalists have been scoring goals and some of the very mouth watering.
The good measure of the first semi final, South Africa was able to do just that against the Zambia. That needed the mind and body draining extra time and dreaded lottery of penalties looming, until the magical head of Edward Chilufya decided we have had enough.
Sudan was able to do the same thing against Senagal in their opening game of the tournament as well. They Senegalease needed to dig deeper in reserve to salvage the lifeline by equalising late in that opening match.
If Zambia can keep possession, they will have a good chance to beat Senegal.
On the other if Senegal gets an early goal, they could ride that goal all the way to a title, since the Zambians have showed a bit of panick when the game go for long without them scoring.
With all the players on the pitch that can create shots and manufacture goals, this game should be decided in the first 90 minutes.
One thing that is for sure, my picks for the 2017 Under 20 Afcon have been on the opposite apart from Zambia.
I didn’t think Senegal would make it to the final especially seeing them in the opening match against Sudan. They have proved me wrong and they would as well prove a lot of pundits wrong by running away with this title.
I won’t dwell much about my picks, the tournament of this nature is hard to predict but because this is what am paid for, I will not shy away from it.
I will take Zambia to win with my money on a brace by Patson Daka, who barely missed having one earlier in the tournament. He could have been a top scorer by now, same with Fashion Sakala. I am of the opinion Sakala will also score and so will Edward and Emmanuel Banda for the host.
My Verdict
Zambia 4-2 Senegal
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Third and Fourth Play Off
South Africa Vs Guinea
Heroes Stadium
14:30
Just for fun, the third place game will have South Africa taking on Guinea. It will be fun to watch this game to see if Morlaye Sylla of Guinea on two goals , can put any pressure on Singh on four goals.
Remember Zambia also has three players on three goals so golden boot is seriously up for grab in these two encounters.
All three men of Zambia have three goals apiece and this will be the last time they get a chance to put their hat in the ring for the Golden Boot or Golden Ball award. For Singh, it will be a chance to redeem himself after missing the goal in the semi final ofcourse due to the resilience of the Zambian defence.
Singh has been a star in this tournament and this game will be a nice swang song to his international career if he can put up some goals.
Again, my picks have not been great, but why not give it that try? I will take South Africa to win this one with a goal from Singh. Remember South Africa have the highest number of scorers in this tournament (6) hence you expect some to add to their tally. Iam going for a South African win.
My Verdict
South Africa 2-0 Guinea
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Special thanks to Aaron Mubanga for being part of compiling the data for the tournament especially goal scorers.
