Amajita can’t bank on potluck in Fifa U20 Cup draw

A FAVOURABLE draw will be highly unlikely for Amajita at tonight’s draw in Suwon, South Korea for the 2017 Fifa U20 Cup.

Seedings based on previous tournament performance going back to the 2007 event – SA qualified in 2009‚ and reached the last 16 – have seen South Africa’s U20 team placed in the lowest bracket‚ Pot 4‚ for the draw.

Amajita qualified for the U20 World Cup by reaching the semifinals of the past two weeks’ Caf U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Zambia‚ where they finished fourth with a 2-1 third-place playoff defeat against Guinea in Lusaka on Sunday.

From Pot 1 South Africa stand to draw hosts South Korea‚ Portugal‚ Uruguay‚ France or the USA.

Argentina‚ Senegal‚ and Mexico or Japan would be viewed as the tougher draws of Pot 2‚ where New Zealand and Costa Rica might be considered kinder opposition.

From Pot 3 two of the bigger names of world football await in England and Italy. Also in that pot are Zambia‚ semifinal victors over Amajita in the 109th minute of extra time as hosts of the Caf U20 Afcon‚ who also beat SA 2-1 in the final of the 2016 Cosafa U20 Challenge Cup in Rustenburg in December.

Honduras‚ Saudi Arabia‚ and Venezuela would be considered the softer draws from the pot.

Amajita are joined in Pot 4 by Iran‚ Vietnam‚ Ecuador‚ Guinea and shock first-time Pacific island qualifiers Vanuatu.

South Africa at the U20 Afcon had an attack that appeared capable of breaking down any team‚ including the hosts and winners‚ Amajita matching Zambia blow for blow in the semifinal in Lusaka.

SA’s defence tightened up from the group stages‚ where they had squandered a 2-0 lead against finalists Senegal‚ but capitulated to four goals after the break and a 4-3 defeat.

The inability to defeat Guinea in a flat third-place playoff and defensive frailties suggest there are areas for SA coach Thabo Senong to work on if SA are to progress past the group stage in Korea.

“We had moments when we dominated play‚ especially in the first half. And we had moments where we were too defensive and negative‚” Senong said of the third-place playoff.

He added: “But as a coach I’m proud that we managed to rotate the boys because my objective in this match was to give everybody a run.”

South Africa have played in two U20 World Cups.

In 1997 in Malaysia they exited in the first round with a 0-0 draw against South Korea‚ 4-2 defeat against France and 2-0 loss against Brazil.

In 2009 SA drew 2-2 against United Arab Emirates‚ lost 4-0 against Hungary and beat Honduras 2-0 to scrape into the last 16‚ where they lost 2-1 against tournament winners Ghana. Fifa U20 World Cup draw rankings: Pot 1: Korea Republic‚ Portugal‚ Uruguay‚ France‚ USA‚ Germany

Pot 2: Mexico‚ Argentina‚ New Zealand‚ Senegal‚ Japan‚ Costa Rica

Pot 3: Zambia‚ Honduras‚ England‚ Saudi Arabia‚ Italy‚ Venezuela

Pot 4: Ecuador‚ South Africa‚ Iran‚ Vietnam‚ Guinea‚ Vanuatu. — TMG