10 May 2025- South African U20 men’s national team coach Raymond Mdaka is a happy man after his charges booked a place in the quarterfinals of the U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt on Friday night.
Amajita battled to a 1-1 draw against Zambia in their final Group A match at the Suez Canal Stadium and the result was enough to secure top spot and passage to the last eight. The South Africans delivered a stellar performance, with Kutlwano Letlhaku scoring the opening goal of the match in the eighth minute. While Zambia fought back to equalize three minutes later, the draw propelled Amajita to the top of Group A to ensure a strong finish in the group with just one defeat in five matches to advance to the quarterfinals.
Mdaka had predicted a tough outing against the Zambians in the final group match and the COSAFA neighbouring country certainly lived up to the billing.
“Our game against Zambia in the final group stage match, we knew it would be a bit tricky because of the margin of the points. They wanted a win at all costs, so they had to put in almost everything because the draw wasn’t enough for them, but fortunately, we knew how they played,” he told www.safa.net.
“We were caught up on something that we have analysed, we have seen, but we were able to quickly get cover and see how best we did with the captain, who was the number 11 and a brilliant individual player. In the second half, as much as we could not play well offensively, we were able to manage the situation because we knew the 1-1 draw was in favour of our side.”
South Africa now turn their attention to the knockout stages where they will face DR Congo at the Suez Canal Stadium on Monday, 12 May 2025.
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