CS Ben Sekou Sylla from Guinea and Fountain Gate School of Tanzania were crowned champions of the boys’ and girls’ competitions respectively.
CS Ben Sekou Sylla defeated home favourites Clapham High School on penalties in Saturday’s final following a thrilling 1-1 draw in front of an enthusiastic crowd of over 6,000 at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium.
Fountain Gate had an easier time in seeing off Moroccan side Ecole Omar IBN Khatab 3-0 to cap a wonderful tournament.
The winning teams each receive USD 300,000 after the Motsepe Foundation donated USD 10 million in the inaugural year of the Pan-African school’s competition.
The finals were the culmination of an outstanding four days of football in which the future stars of the African continent were able to showcase their quality in a celebration of the Beautiful Game.
CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe, South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture, Mr. Zizi Kodwa, all CAF Vice-Presidents, SAFA President Dr. Danny Jordaan, and COSAFA President Artur de Almeida e Silva, as well as football leaders from across the African continent, were in attendance in Durban.
“We are so proud of all the young boys and girls that have competed here, you are the future,” Dr. Motsepe said. “The most successful football nations in the world invest in youth.
“It is part of our commitment to developing football in every country of Africa, and the nations that are here, we are so proud of you. We know the investment we are making in school football will result in the African game competing with the best in the world and being self-sustaining.
“The money the schools have won will be used to build football infrastructure for boys and girls to develop further.
“We want to thank COSAFA for hosting us and for everyone who has made this tournament possible.”
Mr. Kodwa believes the CAF African Schools Football Championship has already raised the profile of school sports across the continent.
“It has been a great opportunity for South Africa to host this tournament, which has lifted school sports tremendously,” he said. “We firmly believe that all schools must play sports as a key part of their curriculum.
“All the teams that participated in Durban are winners. Congratulations to them.” CS Ben Sekou Sylla won a hard-fought and physical boys’ final as they took the lead through the inspirational Amara Keita, but the South African outfit fought back and equalized via eventual Best Player award winner Kagiso Maloka.
That sent the game to penalties and it was the Guinean team who held their nerve to take the shoot-out 5-4 and lift the trophy.
“South Africa was not easy to beat,” the Guineans’ coach Aly Badara Cisse said. “They deserve to be champions just like us but I am happy that we won it. The standard of the competition was truly high and it goes to show that football is on the rise in Africa.”
They take home the first prize, while Clapham High School are rewarded with USD 200,000 for their silver medal.
Malawi’s Salima Secondary School claimed the bronze as they returned home with USD 150,000 third prize. They defeated CEG Sainte Rita from Benin 3-1 in the third-place play-off and ensured two of the top three teams in the competition would be from the hosted zone COSAFA.
Fountain Gate School were the worthy winners of the girls’ competition as they defeated Ecole Omar IBN Khatab from Morocco 3-0 in the final to become the inaugural champions and take home the USD 300,000 first prize.
Their star striker Winifrida Gerald grabbed a brace to take her tally to 11 for the tournament and earn her the Top Scorer prize in a superb individual display of composed finishing.
Irene Chitanda scored the third for the East Africans, who confirmed their status as the leading girls’ team in the competition with their incisive attacking play and star at the top of the pitch in Gerald.
Ecole Omar IBN Khatab earns a hefty consolation for their silver medal with USD 200,000 in prize money for their school.
“I am very happy to have won this for my country,” Fountain Gate coach Veronica Kiondo said. “We did our best in our preparations, which has shown in the results. Thank you to CAF for investing in school and girls’ football.”