The U20 World Cup has finally reached its knockout stage, as the 16 teams remaining will be battling it out for a spot in the quarterfinals of the ongoing global junior competition in Chile.
Three African teams are still remaining in the competition after Egypt was eliminated in the group stages. South Africa and Nigeria will both be in action in their respective round of 16 matches against South American opponents on Wednesday night at 9.30pm (SA time).
Amajita will face Colombia, while Nigeria will cross swords with Argentina. Morocco, on the other hand, will play on Friday against South Korea.
Amajita, who are the reigning African champions, go up against a Colombian side that topped their group, despite winning it unconvincingly.
A tried and tested Amajita
They only scored two goals and conceded one when they beat Saudi Arabia 1-0. And played a goalless draw against Norway, also shared spoils with Nigeria with a 1-1 stalemate.
Even though Colombia has proven to be rock solid and disciplined at the back, they face a tried and tested Amajita side. One that has scored nine goals and conceded just three in three matches.
Ahead of the game, Amajita coach Raymond Mdaka said they have done their homework. They have already identified areas that they will exploit in the Colombian side.
“We’ve been watching Colombia since we knew we were playing them. They are a smart team, very disciplined in terms of their system and formation,” Mdaka said.
“But like any other game, there are areas where we think as a team we can be able to explore. Areas that we can go into in terms of the spaces that they leave. But they are a good team.
“They don’t concede that much if you look into their record. And much as they leave some spaces where we can explore defensively, they look very organised.
“But this is a team that we’ve looked into. A team that we are still going to work on overnight. So that we have the best approach when we play them.”
Well prepared for Colombia
Colombia’s playmaker Óscar Perea will be the player to watch. He is the one that could cause problems for the South African defence led by the forever hardworking defender Tylon Smith.
“The style of play will be a little different. But I think one thing that we are fighting for, and we’re getting there, is how we quickly adapt to situations or adapt to playing styles in terms of playing different teams coming from different countries with different kinds of play.
“But we feel we have got that kind of character of players who can be able to adapt and take us to the next level,” Mdaka added.
