Amajita can go all the way - Appolis

Amajita and SuperSport United midfielder Oswin Appolis (right) says their win in their opening game at the Cosafa Cup Under-20 was good, but now they have to focus on their next game.

South Africa had a dream start to the tournament in Group B, thumping Mauritius 5-0 at the Sunset Stadium in Zambia on Thursday evening.

The team led by interim coach Helman Mkhalele will now clash with Madagascar in their next game at the same venue tomorrow afternoon.

Going into this game, the midfielder believes everything is going well for the team even though it is full of young players.

“It was a good win for the boys, but now we have to focus on our next match against Madagascar on Sunday (tomorrow). So, we need to prepare well because we don’t know what we are going up against. Maybe better or maybe bad, but we don’t know,” said Appolis.

“I think there is a list of good things that are happening for the team. It’s a young team but there are good players here. It’s not about the age and I think we will grow as a team.

With South Africa being the defending champions, Appolis believes the current Amajita can go all the way to win the final and believes the previous Amajita team had quality players hence they were able to win the tournament back-to-back.

He thanked his team-mates for getting the Man-of-the-Match award following a great display which came with scoring two goals for the team.

“I think the previous Under-20 team that won the two trophies was very good and they were older than these boys (current Amajita team), but I think we stand a good chance to win this tournament as well,” he added.

“I just want to say thank you to the team and the coach for believing in me, but now we have to focus on our next game.”

Amajita will go up against a Madagascar side which also got their tournament campaign off on a winning mode after beating Lesotho 3-0 and a win will put them in line for the semifinals.