Eagles claw AmaTuks to stay second
With the first mandate achieved, Amajita are now looking to go all the way at the Caf Under-20 Afcon in Niger and lift the trophy.
Going to the tournament, the South Africans had their eyes on qualifying for Fifa Under-20 World Cup to be staged in Poland later this year, which they did when they sauntered into the semifinals of the competition after beating Burundi 1-0 last Friday to book their spot at the global competition as one of the four African countries to represent the continent.
Amajita will now face Senegal in the semifinals tomorrow at the Seyni Kountche Stadium and midfielder Luke le Roux admits that it won’t be easy going up against the West Africans, who won all their group matches.
“It is not going to be an easy game for either side. However, we have studied our opponents and we know what to expect from them. The technical staff have been exceptional in preparing this team, and we are ready for the match.
“Now that we have completed the first mission of qualifying, we want to go all the way and see where we end up. Who knows, we may just bring back the gold. It would be a great achievement,” said Le Roux, who scored the only goal of the match against Burundi with a penalty.
The midfielder reveals that he was nervous when he stepped up to take the penalty but he knew that it was important for him to score.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know what came over me when I decided I would be the one taking the penalty kick.
“The nerves were there, however, I knew that scoring that goal would put us in pole position to reach the final four of this tournament,” he added.
“Qualifying for the 2019 Fifa Under-20 World Cup was our primary objective, and I knew we had the capacity to protect our lead, once we were a goal or two ahead. I am just glad we were able to do just that in this match.”
Thabo Senong’s men finished in second place in Group A with five points after three games, while the young Teranga Lions finished on top of Group B with nine points from the same number of games. The race for promotion from the National First Division is entering its final stages with 10 games left and Royal Eagles made a statement of intent when they demolished former Absa Premiership campaigners University of Pretoria 5-0 at Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Eagles are now second, six points behind pace-setters Stellenbosch FC, who are on 41 points after 20 games.
The Pietermaritzburg side – who recently hired actor and fitness guru Andile Mxakaza (above), aka Fezile on local soapie Isibaya – as fitness coach and Sazi Ngubane and Bafana Nhlapo as co-coaches are unbeaten in four matches and look credible challengers for the NFD title and promotion to the Absa Premiership.
On Saturday they ran Ziphozonke Dlangalala’s AmaTuks side ragged with Andile Fikizolo scoring twice and Diego Brown, Philani Cele and Dilon Solomons adding their names to the scoresheet as well.
Third-placed Ajax Cape Town didn’t do their chances any good when they were held to a 4-4 draw at home by Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila on Sunday.
New signing Thomas Verhaar continued his good form, contributing one of the goals for the Urban Warriors. Prince Nxumalo scored twice and Thendo Mekumela added his name as well.
For Tshakhuma it was Nhlanhla Mgaga who was in form, netting a hat trick with Onyedikachi Ononogbu scoring the other. Tshakhuma – who were top of the standings at some stage – now remain seventh in the league, but an incredible 13 points behind Stellenbosch.
Fourth-placed Mbombela United, meanwhile, could not make any headway as they were held to a goalless draw at home by Stellenbosch. The result was, however, respectable for the home side who trail the leaders by eight points.
Jomos Cosmos’ chances of staging a late run for the promotion places were dealt a blow yet again when they suffered a 2-1 defeat to strugglers Ubuntu Cape Town. Ezenkosi are now 18 points below top spot after the latest defeat.
For Ubuntu, the win boosted their survival chances as they are now 14th and two points above bottom placed Real Kings, who were beaten 1-0 by TS Sporting on Saturday afternoon.