It is very important that we don’t drop the momentum – Mdaka ahead of Amajita’s final COSAFA group match against Eswatini – South African Football Association

22 September 2026 – Amajita Head Coach Raymond Mdaka says they have no intention of dropping their momentum when they take on Eswatini in the final group match of the CAF U20 Men’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Wednesday.

The two nations go into battle at the ABB Stadium at 12h00, while Angola and Lesotho will contest the other Group B fixture at the same time. South Africa go into this encounter at the back of two convincing victories over Lesotho (4-0) and Angola (2-0), leaving them top of the table on six points. They need only a draw to secure a semi-final spot. Only the group leaders, along with the best second placed team will progress to the next round.

Eswatini lost their opening match 4-0 to Angola but bounced back to register a 3-2 win over Lesotho. Mdaka is contemplating making changes and bringing in fresh legs, but not at the expense of the momentum.

“We are still in a tournament, we are done with the first and second games, and now our focus is on the next fixture. The good thing is we see a lot of improvement with each match. We will obviously have some fresh legs here and there. Remember, we picked everybody so they can play, but we must balance it out well in terms of which country are we facing and how do we want to play. We also want to give others a chance to see how they show up,” said Mdaka.

“But it is very important that we don’t drop the momentum, we have to keep going and emphasize on that, which makes us look good and helps us in creating scoring opportunities. Every game becomes a new game, and gives us a fresh start, We must put in one hundred percent.”

Amajita will be without defender Lakham Gqongo who was stretchered off in the clash against Angola after a head injury and was taken hospital. He has since been released and is recuperating well, but the defender is still being monitored by the medical team.

As things stand, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia top groups A, B and C respectively. The winners of Group A will face off with the best runners up while the victorious side in Group B will go toe to toe with the winners of Group C.

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