Johannesburg – South Africa’s National Under-20 (Amajita) coach Helman Mkhalele has named his 20-man squad that will represent South Africa at this year’s COSAFA Men’s Under-20 Championship.
The tournament will run from 3 – 13 December in Port Elizabeth.
Mkhalele said he and his technical staff had a difficult time in deciding on the final 20-man squad, given the amount quality within the provisional squad.
The coach said he has utmost belief in the players he has selected and that they will achieve their goals.
Having reached last year’s COSAFA Men’s Under-20 Championship final in Zambia, Mkhalele stated that he would like to win the Championship this time around.
Reaching this year’s final will also guarantee Amajita a spot in next year’s U-20 AFCON tournament which will take place in Mauritania.
“I am very happy with the squad that we have assembled for this year’s COSAFA tournament,” Mkhalele said. “None of this would have been possible if it was not for the tremendous support we had received for various clubs in releasing their players for this camp. For that we are truly grateful as it enabled us with enough time to prepare and work with the players leading up to this crucial event.
“There are two things that we want to get out from this tournament,” Mkhalele added. “And that is: we want to qualify for next year’s U-20 AFCON tournament by reaching this year’s COSAFA final and also win the COSAFA Championship.”
Meanwhile, Mkhalele added that he was expecting tough encounters from all of their Group A opponents, adding that countries like Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Mozambique will come out guns blazing in their matches against them.
Amajita’s first Group A match will be against Zimbabwe on 3 December at the Wolfson Stadium. They will then face Lesotho on the 6th before the end off their group fixtures against Mozambique on 8 December.
All of Amajita’s Group A matches will kick-off at 15h30 at the very same match venue.
“Most of our neighbouring countries come highly motivated to push for a win when they play against us at any level of football competitions,” Mkhalele said. “They just want to see themselves coming out with a win against us and we are very much aware of that. This tournament is not going to be any different. We are expecting a very difficult battle from our Group A opponents. However, we are also motivated to do well in this tournament. We have ticked all the boxes in our preparations and we are now looking forward for the battle that lies ahead.”
Take a look at the squad below:
| Goalkeepers | ||
| 1. | Olwethu MZIMELA | AmaZulu FC |
| 2. | Bontle MOLEFE | Kaizer Chiefs |
| Defenders | ||
| 3. | Nkosikhona RADEBE | KZN Academy |
| 4. | Nelson RALENKOANE | Orlando Pirates |
| 5. | Athenkosi MCABA | Unattached |
| 6. | Mohlala MAKOLA | Mamelodi Sundowns |
| 7. | Bilal BALOYI | SuperSport United |
| 8. | Boikanyo SEGOTLONG | Orlando Pirates |
| Midfielders | ||
| 9. | Rivaldo PRESENT | Ubuntu FC |
| 10. | Tshepo MYENI | Kaizer Chiefs |
| 11. | Ethan BROOKS | TS Galaxy |
| 12. | Rowan HUMAN | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 13. | Jayden ADAMS | Stellenbosch FC |
| 14. | Oswin APPOLLIS | SuperSport United |
| 15. | Rahim MILAZI | Kaizer Chiefs |
| 16. | Leonardo ROI | Highlands Park |
| Forwards | ||
| 17. | Sinenjongo MKIVA | SuperSport United |
| 18. | Keenan BEZUIDENHOUT | SuperSport United |
| 19. | Lindokuhle ZUNGU | AmaZulu |
| 20. | Keletso SIFAMA | Kaizer Chiefs |
Sunday World
