SA's Amajita hope to fly against Nigeria's Eagles in Afcon U20 semi-final

IOL News

15-05-2025

Thabang Mahlangu Thabang Mahlangu (No 18, centre) celebrates scoring the winner for Amajita against DR Congo. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
The South African Under-20 men's national team have covered the hard yards in the ongoing Africa Youth Championship after reaching the semi-finals to qualify for the World Cup.
Amajita beat the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 1-0 in extra time of the quarter-final at Suez Canal Authority Stadium on Monday night.
That result, courtesy of a goal from Thabang Mahlangu, meant that Amajita will return to the global showpiece in Chile later this year for the first time since 2017.
Amajita have coach Raymond Mdaka and his technical team to thank for their preparations, having also won the Cosafa Championship to qualify for Afcon, which is held in Egypt.
However, while most of the job is done, the current crop of players will be eager to follow in the footsteps of the Class of '97, which reached the Afcon final.
That won't be easy, though, as they'll have to get past Nigeria in the semi-final at Canal Authority Stadium on Thursday afternoon (5pm kick-off).
But having their main objective been granted to date, defender Siviwe Nkwali hopes that the football gods will smile on them once again in the semis.
'I am so happy... This is what we wanted as the guys,' Nkwali told SABC Sport after the win over DRC.
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'This was our main objective. So, now that we have achieved it, we are very grateful to the Almighty.
'We hope that He can guide us to the final now. That's all that's left.'
The Flying Eagles are the most successful team at Afcon after winning seven titles and finishing as runners-up twice.
So, that's why a win for Amajita wouldn't only give them a huge morale-booster ahead of the final, but for the main event in South America as well.
Yeeeeesss! We are going to the semi-finals of the U20 AFCON in Egypt, and we have qualified for the U20 FIFA World Cup in Chile in September 2025!!! pic.twitter.com/drciSEahr3 — SAFA.net (@SAFA_net) May 12, 2025
With Nigeria set to pose a physical challenge like the DRC, Nkwali, who was relieved with the way his troops defended on Monday, will hope that they adopt the same approach on Thursday.
'It was a very physical game. The DRC team is made up of big players. But we manage to defend well in set-pieces,' Nkwali said.
'They were strong on the set-pieces as well.
'But we managed to contain them because we didn't concede, and we got a late goal in extra time.'