3 August 2014 – The South African Men’s U20 National Team (Amajita) go into their final match of the West Africa tour with one thing in mind – victory.
Amajita have played three matches – registering two draws and a defeat.
South Africa will now face Ivory Coast on Monday, 4 August at the 15-thousand-seater Stade Robert Champroux in Abidjan. Kick-off is at 16h00 local time (18h00 SA time).
Amajita completed their preparations on Sunday, 3 August and coach Shakes Mashaba said he was impressed with the work rate and added that there was a need for the boys to be a bit more clinical in front of goals.
“The last training session gave us many positives. The only challenge we still have is that we create chances but our finishing is not where it should be so we need to fix that. I believe playing teams like the Ivory Coast can help us work on that,” said Mashaba.
“We don’t know much about Ivory Coast (at this level) but I think their approach is more or less like the other three countries we have already played. We need to be wary of their physical presence and quick movement forward, just like what we saw against Senegal. We have to keep possession as much as we can and if we make use of that we can get a result,” said Mashaba.
South Africa played to a one-draw against Burkina Faso, then lost 1-0 to Mali before holding Senegal to a goalless draw, so victory in the last one is crucial.
Amajita have played three matches – registering two draws and a defeat.
South Africa will now face Ivory Coast on Monday, 4 August at the 15-thousand-seater Stade Robert Champroux in Abidjan. Kick-off is at 16h00 local time (18h00 SA time).
Amajita completed their preparations on Sunday, 3 August and coach Shakes Mashaba said he was impressed with the work rate and added that there was a need for the boys to be a bit more clinical in front of goals.
“The last training session gave us many positives. The only challenge we still have is that we create chances but our finishing is not where it should be so we need to fix that. I believe playing teams like the Ivory Coast can help us work on that,” said Mashaba.
“We don’t know much about Ivory Coast (at this level) but I think their approach is more or less like the other three countries we have already played. We need to be wary of their physical presence and quick movement forward, just like what we saw against Senegal. We have to keep possession as much as we can and if we make use of that we can get a result,” said Mashaba.
South Africa played to a one-draw against Burkina Faso, then lost 1-0 to Mali before holding Senegal to a goalless draw, so victory in the last one is crucial.
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“If we were playing a mini tournament, to qualify for the semis you would need at least five points – we are sitting on two after three matches and conceded two goals – so for us this is a must win match. A win will seal everything and we will have drawn two, lost one and won one, which is not a bad return,” added Mashaba.
“So this game is crucial for us to win and will go a long way in boosting our morale going to the qualifier against Cameroon which is next weekend (Saturday, 16 August).”
“So this game is crucial for us to win and will go a long way in boosting our morale going to the qualifier against Cameroon which is next weekend (Saturday, 16 August).”
By: Editor
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