Feeder teams are important

The current crop of Amajita players might be a totally new group, but what interim coach Helman Mkhalele (above) is happy about is having a few of the players who were part of the national Under-17 squad.

With a couple of players graduating from Amajimbos to Amajita, Mkhalele believes the South African development system is working very well, especially in the national team and hopes to see some of these players making it to the senior national team in the future.

Mkhalele has been busy in camp since the beginning of the week as they prepare for the upcoming Under-20 men’s Cosafa Cup to be staged in Lusaka, Zambia from December 5.

“It will help a great deal you know, because having a few players who have played in the national under-17 side shows that there is progression among our development teams, especially the national teams from which players graduate. Also, to make sure that our senior national team have players that gained experienced starting from the junior national teams,” said the Amajita coach.

“That also makes sure that the consistency and stability of our senior national team is guaranteed.”

At the competition, Amajita will definitely be a team to beat with the SA juniors having won the tournament back-to-back in the last two years, making it four Cosafa Cio titles for Amajita.

The South Africans were placed in Group B alongside Lesotho, Madagascar and Mauritius at the tournament. And looking at the group, Mkhalele knows it’s going to be a tough task for his charges to progress to the next stage. But he says it’s always the case with SA or any other team from all levels.

“Each and every national team that comes up against any SA national team prepare throughly. So, we are expecting tough competition from them, especially Mauritius. We played against them in the last edition of the tournament and they became stronger as they progressed in the tournament,” he continued.

“So, we are expecting a tough challenge against these teams, that is why we are working very hard at training and off the field to make sure that our players are ready mentally.”

The squad is expected to leave for Lusaka some time next week, where they will play their opener against Mauritius in December 5.