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Substitute Hamidou Traore was the hero scoring twice as Mali came from behind to beat South Africa 2-1 in their Group B fixture on Thursday at the Caroline Faye Stadium in M’Bour.

The Turkey-based forward scored within a spate of nine minutes after Motjeka Madisha had put Amajita in the LEAD midway through the second half.  

Mali got off well capitalizing on blunders by the unsettled Amajita defence and by the seventh minute, had two good opportunities to break through on five minutes and two minutes later, but on each occasion Malick Toure shot wide only South goalie Dumsani Msibi to beat.

The Eaglets had the better of possession and continued to threaten the South African backline, who will soon begin to gain their feet. Three minutes past the half hour mark, Mali again was on the move and Aboubacar Doumbia squared to Souleymane Diarra, but the latter sent a flying shot wayward.

Amajita’s only chance of the first half came on 37 minutes from a corner kick taken by Moegammad Domingo but Pule Maraisane headed wide from close range.

Two minutes later, indecisiveness on the part of South African goalie Msibi almost cost his side but he could afford a normal breathe after a Toure header missed target narrowly after Mohamed Guilavogui had crossed to him.

The Eaglets resumed on a promising and six minutes from the break almost went up after Msibi had committed himself from a free-kick, but lanky defender Ichaka Diarra saw his glancing header fly just off goal.

Despite the dominance of the Malians, it was Amajita who broke the deadlock on 72 minutes from the spot. A through pass from Morne Nel found Dumisani Zuma, who raced forward only to be shouldered down by Hamidou Maiga for a penalty. Captain Motjeka Madisha sent Mali goalie Sory Ibrahim Traore the wrong way for the opener.

 The LEAD will last for only five minutes before substitute Hamidou Traore drew level with a curling shot after spotting Msibi off his line. Falaye Sacko set the burly Traore up from a corner, who fired a curler that caught Msibi off guard for the deserving equalizer.

Four minutes from time, Traore scored the winner with a spectacular half volley from Diarra’s cross from the right to make it two wins out of it two for his side.

Mali are now within touching distance of a place at the semis and the FIFA U-20 World Cup with six points, whilst South Africa are pointless from two games.