Skillful Mozambicans overcome South Africa
On a warm evening in Maputo, Mozambique welcomed the South African National Futsal Team to an international friendly match.
Off to a little bit of a shaky start, South Africa eventually found their feet and after both sides had missed some big chances Nickkyle Samson eventually opened the scoring for South Africa with a beautiful solo dribble, finishing with a composed lob past the keeper and making the entire LDM Arena erupt. Even though the first half could have seen more goals, the score stayed one goal to nil in favour of the visitors at half time.
The second half of the match did not take long to bring action, as Mozambique found the equalizer only two minutes after the restart. This seemed to have woken up both teams, as South Africa almost immediately took the lead again with a thunderous strike from distance by Reagan Swartbooi. Unfortunately for the boys in yellow the joy did not last long, as only a minute later a penalty was awarded to the home team. The crowd rose in anticipation but so did South Africa’s goalkeeper, Tyson Ramburran, who pulled a brilliant save with his foot.
Caught up in celebrations, Mozambique used the momentary chaos with a quick corner to push the ball over the line from close range.
Energized by the goal and the fans in the back, Mozambique took control of the game and created several good chances. Even though South Africa hit the woodwork twice, it seemed inevitable for the home team to take the lead.
Now having all the momentum on their side the boys in red played out a great combination goal to double their lead.
Minutes before the end of the game, the ref sent off the Mozambique forward with a second yellow, seeing them with a man down for two minutes.
South Africa’s moment of hope was short-lived, as the home team managed to put another one over the line, only seconds before the final whistle was blown.
With a final score of 5-2 to Mozambique, both teams will have a day to reflect on the match, as the next encounter is only a day away.