Margeman relishing World Cup chance

Ajax Cape Town’s 18-year-old midfielder Grant Margeman has the chance to live his dream of representing his country at the highest level after helping the national Under-20 team qualify for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Korea Republic in May.

Margeman scored one of the three goals against Sudan during the team’s final group game to help Amajita book a spot in the semifinals of the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Zambia, as well as a ticket to South Korea. Margeman’s side ended up only finishing fourth at the tournament, but it was still enough for a place among the world’s elite. “I am honoured to be part of the Amajita squad and I am also very excited that I played a role in us qualifying for the World Cup. It has always been my dream to represent my country and it was a special moment for me to score against Sudan. We had a mission when we went there, and we realised that goal, so what more can one ask for?” said Margeman.

“I foresee the next couple of months being very hectic, but exciting at the same time. South Africa will have a chance to display their talent on the world’s biggest stage. I am proud of this team, I am proud of the players and I am thankful for all the support, not just for myself but the entire team. Now the plan is to work harder so that one can be part of the final squad that will travel to Korea.

“Playing a lot of friendly games helped us to do well in the competition, when we got to the tournament we knew what to do. The main focus was to qualify for the World Cup and we are all happy that we at least achieved one of the goals we set for ourselves.”

Going to the World Cup, the Ajax midfielder knows it will be a different ball-game for him and the rest of the squad, but he believes they are capable of achieving anything, even though they couldn’t go all the way to lift the Afcon trophy.

“We will be playing the best nations in the world. It is going to be a huge test for us, but again, there is a pool of Under-20 players who are very talented,” he continued.

“It has been really good, we went into the tournament with the mindset of winning the competition. However, things didn’t go so well for us. But again, I believe we pulled off some great performances and sometimes luck was just not on our side. We have a good squad full of talented players, so the future looks very good for us.”

Amajita finished the tournament on Sunday, losing 2-1 to Guinea in the thirdplace play-off. The Ajax graduate, however, adds that this was a great experience for the team, playing under difficult circumstances.

“The matches were difficult and we all had to be on top of our game because it was high-tempo. Looking at the supporters and playing in a packed stadium was some of the things we had to overcome. We weren’t intimidated because if it happened that we got scared, we could have lost our cool and not played our normal game.”

Margeman is one of the seven Ajax players who were promoted to the first team at the beginning of the season. The youngster has already played nine games, scored two goals and has a couple of assists to his name. He says his aim is to help the team get to their level best following a disappointing start to the season.

With such a big heart, Margeman has shown glimpses of the potential to become like Steven Pienaar and Thulani Serero, and go from Ajax Cape Town to forge a career in European football. And at the tender age of 18, the midfielder has the talent to take him anywhere in the world.

The World Cup in Korea Republic will be a perfect stage for Margeman to sell himself to the planet’s biggest teams.