Amajita prepare for battle with Mozambique

Thabo Senong’s national Under-20 team will once again have a chance to show their prowess in the southern hemisphere when they compete at this year’s Cosafa Under-20 tournament in Zambia from December 6 to 16.

The draw for this year’s edition of the tournament took place in Johannesburg on Thursday with South Africa being grouped with Mauritius, Mozambique and North African nation Egypt who come into the competition as guests in Group B.

Hosts Zambia are in Group A, alongside Malawi, Swaziland and East African guests Uganda, while Group C consists of Angola, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

The top teams in the respective group standings will go through to the semifinals and will be joined by the best group runners-up to make up the final four.

This is the very same tourna- ment that gave a platform to the likes of Portugal-based Luther Singh, SuperSport United’s Teboho Mokoena, Mamelodi Sundowns’ Thendo Mukumela and Orlando Pirates’ Tercious Malepe, who is now on loan at Ajax Cape Town, to get into the senior national team.

Amajita will be up against Mozambique on Thursday, December 7 at Nkana Stadium in their first group stage match.

The second match will see Senong’s team going up against Mauritius on Sunday, December 10 at the same venue, before meeting with the Egyptians in the third and final group stage match at Arthur Davies Stadium on Tuesday, December 12.

The group stage will be completed on December 12, followed by a rest day, with the semifinals to be staged at the Arthur Davies Stadium on December 14.

The third-place play-off and the final will be in Ndola on December 16.