10 June 2025 – South Africa are through to the semi-finals out of the COSAFA Cup after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Mauritius at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein on Tuesday afternoon.
The draw was enough to take coach Vela Khumalo’s team to the last four of the tournament and finish at the top of Group A after Zimbabwe beat Mozambique 3-1 in the other group match.
According to the tournament rules, the top teams in each of the four groups advance to the semi-finals, with the winner of Group A to face the top side in Group D, and the leading team in Group B up against the top team in Group C.
Coach Vela Khumalo said while Mauritius were tough opponents and his charges struggled to break them down during a tense 90 minutes of football, the home side also missed a plethora of chances that could have won the match comfortably.
” Look, I think our boys, they need to put on their scoring boots. Our sessions (ahead of the semi-finals) will be more on finishing. This is exactly what we have been all about. But if you see it at training, honestly speaking, the players are coming from recess, their teams were closed (for the off-season) and then they came back here. Maybe they left their scoring shoes behind. But gradually, I think it will come back and then we’ll manage to score goals,” he said.
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