Sundowns and Queens of Zimbabwe to contest Saturday's Women’s Champions League qualifying final
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Melinda Kgadiete of Mamelodi Sundowns celebrates with teammates after scoring during their CAF Womens Champions League COSAFA Qualifier semi-final against Green Buffaloes at Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Thursday Melinda Kgadiete of Mamelodi Sundowns celebrates with teammates after scoring during their CAF Womens Champions League COSAFA Qualifier semi-final against Green Buffaloes at Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Thursday. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
CAPE TOWN – Black Rhinos Queens of Zimbabwe and South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns will contest the final of the 2021 CAF Women’s Champions League Cosafa qualifiers after both teams emerged victors in the semi-finals.
The pair will clash on Saturday for a ticket to the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League that is scheduled to be played in Egypt later this year. Only one team from the Cosafa region will advance to the continental showpiece.
Queens booked their spot after early goals set them on the way to a 2-0 success over Double Action from Botswana.
Mavis Chirandu had them in front after just four minutes, before the vastly experienced Marjory Nyaumwe added a second 11 minutes later for her second of the competition.
That fast start was a real blow to Double Action, who tried to find a way back into the contest but lacked the quality to break down Queens. The latter have still yet to concede a goal in the competition.
Sundowns edged Green Buffaloes from Zambia in their semi-final, with Melinda Kgadiete scoring the only goal just before halftime.
Her header took her tally for the competition to five, making her the outright leading scorer at this stage on and course for the Golden Boot.
Sundowns had scored 18 goals in their three pool matches but found none of that potency against the well-organised Buffaloes defence, though in truth the South Africans were also rarely troubled at the back.
Saturday’s final will kick off at 14h00 and should be an intriguing affair between what have been the two best teams in the competition.
Both sides have players with international experience who have competed in Europe, and with so much on the line, it will be a fascinating battle.
Semi-final summary:
Black Rhinos Queens 2 (Chirandu 4′, Nyaumwe 15′) Double Action 0
Mamelodi Sundowns 1 (Kgadiete 44′) Green Buffaloes 0
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