13 March 2015 - COSAFA pride will be at stake when Amajita play Zambia in an academic match on Sunday after both teams were eliminated from the CAF U20 African Youth championships currently taking place in Senegal.
Both teams failed to win or draw any of their opening two games. South Africa lost 2-0 to Ghana before losing 2-1 to Mali while Zambia lost 1-0 and 2-1 to Mali and Ghana respectively as both COSAFA representatives were knocked out of the junior tournament.
However, Amajita coach Thabo Senong said while the two defeats were disappointing he said the match against Zambia would be fought as any other competitive game.
“The modern environment entails to take each game seriously whether you have lost your way in the competition or otherwise. It is a culture you have to inculcate in today’s players.
Both teams failed to win or draw any of their opening two games. South Africa lost 2-0 to Ghana before losing 2-1 to Mali while Zambia lost 1-0 and 2-1 to Mali and Ghana respectively as both COSAFA representatives were knocked out of the junior tournament.
However, Amajita coach Thabo Senong said while the two defeats were disappointing he said the match against Zambia would be fought as any other competitive game.
“The modern environment entails to take each game seriously whether you have lost your way in the competition or otherwise. It is a culture you have to inculcate in today’s players.
“While we will give each player a run on Sunday, we will still play to win,” said the 34-year old mentor.
The youthful coach said the tournament was a huge learning curve for the team and the technical staff and were now wiser going forward.
“We expected to do better than what we achieved but that is the nature of this sport, you at times lose but in doing so, must learn and correct your mistakes.
“I still don’t believe that there is a huge gap between COSAFA countries and those in West Africa. The only difference maybe is that the competition in this part of the world is more comprehensive than in Southern Africa where a few countries perform well on constant basis.”
After the match on Sunday, South Africa leave Senegal on Monday and are expected to arrive on the same day at ORTambo Airport at 16h45.
The youthful coach said the tournament was a huge learning curve for the team and the technical staff and were now wiser going forward.
“We expected to do better than what we achieved but that is the nature of this sport, you at times lose but in doing so, must learn and correct your mistakes.
“I still don’t believe that there is a huge gap between COSAFA countries and those in West Africa. The only difference maybe is that the competition in this part of the world is more comprehensive than in Southern Africa where a few countries perform well on constant basis.”
After the match on Sunday, South Africa leave Senegal on Monday and are expected to arrive on the same day at ORTambo Airport at 16h45.
By: Editor
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