South Africa coach Senong eyes U20 World Cup spot

Thabo Senong

Friday Jan 18, 2019. 13:00

South Africa under-20 head coach Thabo Senong is hoping to guide the team to the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup finals.

Nicknamed Amajita, South Africa travelled to Nelspruit continue with their local camp preparations leading up to this year’s CAF Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations set to take place in Niger.

That biennial continental showpiece will run from 2–17 February 2019 in Maradi and Niamey.

Amajita are in Group A alongside hosts Niger, Burundi and Niger.

A top two finish in their group will see them forming part of the four African national teams that are to represent CAF in the upcoming World Cup finals which will be hosted by Poland.

“We have a confirmed friendly against Mozambican side Costa Do Sol for this coming weekend,” Senong said.

“This will be a good exercise because it will help us measure how far we have come in our preparations and the areas that we also need to work on as well.

“This team (Amajita) has not lost a single match in the last 18 months,” Senong added.

“The last time we lost was in 2017 FIFA Under-20 World Cup match against Italy. And this is just a highlight of the kind of players who are brought in to represent the nation. They have character and a fight within them and that is what we want.”