Botswana’s junior national boys’ team (under 17) suffered in the semi-finals at the ongoing Region 5 Youth Games in Lilongwe, which also serve as 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐅𝐂𝐎𝐍 𝐔𝟏𝟕 𝐁𝐨𝐲 | 𝐀𝐥𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 | 𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐀 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫, suffered a major setback on Friday night when they lost 4-2 to Zambia.

After getting through the group stage with 1 win and a draw from 2 games, the boys conceded their first loss in a very important game, to book their ticket to 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐅𝐂𝐎𝐍 𝐔𝟏𝟕 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐬 | 𝐀𝐥𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 early next year. The boys are billed to play Malawi on Sunday for a podium finish.

In his post-match remarks after the loss to Zambia, Mokute recalled the grief of having lost the semi-final game, but the boys have done well it is just unfortunate that they did not win the match during regulation time. “This is the semi-final, a big stage in the tournament, and it was a very tough match” he added.

Girls’ team will also enter the third/fourth place match after an unsuccessful COSAFA UNDER 17 GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP 2022 semi-final markdown after a 3-0 defeat against South Africa on Friday. Malawi will face Botswana this evening at 19h00.