South Africa’s National Under-20 men’s team, Amajita, have set their sights firmly on qualifying for next year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations after completing a perfect group-stage campaign at the COSAFA Under-20 Championship in Mozambique.
Amajita coach Raymond Mdaka says his charges are confident of achieving their main objective after defeating eSwatini 2-0 in their final Group B match on Wednesday.
The victory saw South Africa finish top of the Group B with nine points from three matches, having scored seven goals without conceding.
“Our boys have played very well in the group stages and we are very confident that we will reach our mandate, which is to qualify for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations come next year,” said the Limpopo-born mentor.
Amajita will face Zambia on Friday, September 25 in the semifinal match. The match against Zambia is a replica of last year’s final match between the two sides which saw Amajita winning 2-0 to lift the title.
Mdaka made several changes to his starting line-up against eSwatini to manage the squad and give other players an opportunity.
Milimo Nalumango, Sanele Simelane, Joshua Taylor, Kgomotso Madiba, Will Henson and Ukhonaye Magele were brought into the starting XI, replacing Matthew Palmer, Teboho Lekhatla, Emile Witbooi, Oarabile Booysen, Steven Mendes and Teboho Mlangeni.
Takalani Mazhamba, Egan Freese, Cayden Fortune, Lazola Maku and Manelis Mazibuko were the only survivors from the side that started against Angola.
Amajita took 25 minutes to break the deadlock, with Mazibuko producing a stunning finish to put South Africa ahead.
Nalumango doubled the advantage eight minutes later as Amajita took a commanding 2-0 lead into the latter stages of the match.
South Africa had opportunities to add to their tally, including two penalty decisions that were overturned following video review interventions.
Mdaka said the changes were necessary to manage minor injuries, provide players with recovery time and give fringe players valuable tournament experience.
“We made changes because we had some minor injuries and we wanted the players to recover, but also this is a junior tournament and we sometimes test and give others a chance,” said Mdaka.
“We rested some players from the team that we normally play, thinking it would be the same as we always play, but it was not like that. I think we should have scored a number of goals if we were not relaxing on the opportunities that we got.”
Amajita’s reward for topping Group B is a mouth-watering semi-final clash against Zambia, who finished as Group C winners.
The crucial encounter will be played on Friday, September 25, with a place in the final — and a major step towards securing qualification for next year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations — at stake.
Mdaka knows there will be little room for error against their neighbours.
“I hope it’s going to be a very good game. This is the decider for qualifying, and it needs full focus and commitment from the players,” he said.
In the other semi-final, Group A winners Namibia will face hosts Mozambique.
Mozambique advanced after Angola were eliminated on Fair Play points, with the two teams level on points and goals scored and conceded.
The semi-finals are scheduled for Friday, September 25, while the final will take place on Sunday, September 27.
