The fact that the SA Under-20 failed to qualify for the Afcon last week should not be taken lightly. Amajita, as the team is affectionately known, succumbed 2-1 to Mozambique in the Cosafa semifinals in Eswatini last Friday.
This means the boys will not be part of the 2023 Under-20 Afcon that will be held in Egypt in February.
And for their sin, as a matter of consequence, they also forfeited any chance they were harbouring of playing in the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia, also next year. The four top teams at the Afcon automatically qualify for the World Cup. This would have left Safa president Danny Jordaan livid and tearing the little of hair left off his scalp.
In the long run, missing out on those competitions is catastrophic for the growth of SA football. There are underlying, and regressive circumstances that South Africans are not aware of when such mishaps happen.
Back in the early 2000, it became the norm for the junior national teams to miss out on tournaments. AmaGlug-Glug, the then popular SA Olympic team, pumped and energised by Sasol, qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games and then it took them another 16 years to go back and participate in the Rio Games in 2016. It was the same with Amajimbos (SA Under-17) as they spent most of those years missing out on various important youth tournaments. SA football regressed and degenerated.
Those were the painful years in South African football. It was just a hit and miss as the various national teams became a laughing stock. Bafana Bafana did not qualify for the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany and only made the cut for the 2010 spectacle by virtue of being hosts. Since then, they have never qualified for a World Cup, missing out on the 2014, 2018 and the 2022 editions simply because they were not good enough.
The benefits of playing at these junior Afcons and World Cups are there for everyone to see. For example, Lionel Messi made a name for himself in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His teammates in the Argentina Under-23 squad included
Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria, who were just barely out of their teens.
Brazil had Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Ramirez, Pato and Anderson. Belgium were blessed with Vincent Kompany, Marauani Fellaini and Mousa Dembele at that tournament. They all became superstars after the junior tournament.
In 2009, Rwanda hosted the Under-20 Afcon and Amajita reached the semifinals. They were coached by the shrewd Serame Letsoaka and made it to the Fifa World Cup that was held in the same year. Guess who was part of that team?
Kermit Erasmus, Thulani Serero, Andile Jali, George Maluleke, Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Dino Ndlovu, Darren Keet, Kamohelo Mokotjo and Thulani “Tyson” Hlatshwayo, etc.
Today they are still at the peak of their careers and among the best generations to have graduated to Bafana. They all benefited from being part of those junior tournaments, hence the longevity and the many years they served in Bafana.
I just feel pity for the laaities who were knocked outlast week.
They have missed a big step in their development stage and this is likely to catch up with them as they grow and graduate to the higher national teams.
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