A victory over Cameroon would be sufficient for Amajimbos to secure a ticket to Qatar, putting the South African U17 national team in the final stages of qualifying for the Fifa World Cup in November.
Amajimbos will play Cameroon in their U17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group B second match on Thursday at the Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca, Morocco.
The young South Africans defeated Egypt 4-3 in a thrilling seven-goal match on Monday night, putting them in a strong position in their group.
Only ten of the 16 teams competing in the Afcon will advance to the U17 World Cup in Qatar later this year, according to Fifa, and Amajimbos coach Vela Khumalo is certain his team will be one of those teams.
“We are very clear with our players to say, as much as everyone is saying it’s a group of death, we are happy that we are counted as one of the best in that group,” Khumalo said ahead of the match.
Formidable Cameroon obstacle
“We are going to showcase our talent [at the Afcon] because we have a talented team. But more importantly, the character and mentality in the team is that we want to see ourselves at the World Cup.”
He continued: “They are all the same age, so it is a different year, and we know we are new, but I recall that we were at this level before, so it will not be entirely new; the experience is there.
“But, like I said, more important than anything is [that] we want to qualify for the World Cup, and we surely want to be counted among the 10 teams that are going to Qatar from Africa.”
However, Khumalo’s team will need to overcome the formidable Cameroon obstacle because they will also be eager to earn as many points as possible after losing to Burkina Faso 2-1 in their opening match.
The game between Cameroon and South Africa will begin at 4pm (SA time).
