The South African U17 Men’s National Team (Amajimbos) departed for Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, on Saturday morning ahead of their fourth international match as they continue preparations for the 2024 COSAFA Championships, to be played in December.

Amajimbos will be participating in a FIFA 6 Nations Talent Development Scheme (TDS) tournament in the West African country. The scheme is the brainchild of FIFA with the aim of exposing junior players to international football at a young age in order to fast-track their development.South Africa will play three international friendly matches during their week-long stay in Cote D’Ivoire.

Their opening match of the tournament will be played on 3 September 2024 against Algeria. They will then face East Africans Tanzania on 5 September 2024 before their last match against Morocco on 7 September 2024.

Head Coach Vela Khumalo said they aim to qualify for the 2025 FIFA U17 Men’s World Cup and are building up to this by preparing the team at every opportunity provided to them.

Amajimbos last played two weeks ago in South Africa against Lesotho in two practices matches. They beat their counterparts 4-0 and 3-1 consecutively over two matches.

Prior to that, the U17 National Team had played two international friendlies in Colombia earlier in the year and participated in a Three Nations TDS Tournament in Morocco in December 2023.