Amajita will leave nothing to chance in Caf qualifier

SOUTH Africa are hard at work preparing for Saturday’s Caf Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Mozambique.

Saturday’s encounter will be a first leg clash and will be played at Campo de Ferroviaro da Beira in Beira City, Mozambique. (start 3pm.)

“We had a good first day of training, which was nice and easy because most of the boys were playing over the weekend so we had to underload them just to make sure they are fresh,” said Amajita coach Thabo Senong, from the team’s Johannesburg camp.

“I was quite impressed by the attendance, and I must say a very big thank you to all the clubs – PSL, NFD, ABC and MDC – who released their players, we are quite excited with the co-operation. All we have to do is to make sure we gel quickly into a unit as we are playing a very tough match against Mozambique.

The second leg is scheduled for Sunday, May 20, at a venue yet to be confirmed in South Africa.

Senong has called up 28 players in camp – which will be trimmed down to 20 before the squad’s departure to Mozambique. Of the 28, only three could not be released by their clubs – Sibusiso Mabiliso (Amazulu), Bradley Cross (Bidvest Wits) as well as Belgium-based Keith Groeneveld.

“It is quite unfortunate that we could not get those players, but we don’t see this as a challenge, it is actually an opportunity for another player to come in as we have a very good pool of players,” added Senong.

They have already been replaced by Saluleko Mathonsi (Wits University) and Tristan Nikitaridis (University of Johannesburg) – bringing the squad to 27 players in total.

The team leaves for Mozambique tomorrow and will return to South Africa on Sunday.

The Afcon tournament will take place in Niger from February 24 to March 10, 2019. Eight nations will participate in the competition – and the top four countries will qualify as African representatives for the 2019 Fifa Under-20 tournament to be held in Poland. –