King George saves Zimbabwe again!

Zimbabwe have made it through to the final of Cosafa Cup for the seventh time after George Chigova produced heroics in a 3-1 penalty win over Lesotho at the new Peter Mokaba Stadium.

George Chigova of Zimbabwe during the 2014 CAF African Nations Championships Quarterfinal football match between Mali and Zimbabwe at Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town on 25 January 2014 ©Chris Ricco/BackpagePix

The match was a cagey affair and in the first half saw very goalmouth action for either side.

Zimbabwe came into the second half reinvigorated, but when they cut into the opposition third but did not have the quality to get shots on target or get balls to strikers often enough.

And twice when they did, Tino Kadewere headed wide from a Tafadzwa Kutinyu cross while Evans Rusike’s looping header went for the corner flag.

It came down to penalties with the match having ended 0-0.

Enter Chigova who saved three spot kicks in the quarter final. This time, he saved the first two. Zimbabwe converted all their three. And then with the fourth penalty, Lesotho’s penalty was ruled a foul and Zimbabwe took the tie.

Said Chigova:

I feel happy to contribute to the success of the team. And I am happy we are through to the final and we will see what happens. Now we are facing Zambia and they are coming for revenge after we beat them last year.
We need to work on our goals. We are solid defensively. We have to work on our final third.