South African U20 Men’s National team coach Raymond Mdaka says they have the character to complete the double when they face hosts Mozambique in the final of the CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier on Sunday.
Kickoff at the ABB Stadium in Matola is at 14h00. Both nations have qualified for the prestigious U20 AFCON, but now the battle is to determine who the regional champions are.
Mozambique booked their spot in the final after brushing aside Namibia in the semi-finals, while South Africa fought gallantly to come back from behind and defeat a strong Zambian side in the other last four match.
The defending champions are yet to lose in all the four matches they have played in the competition, but the home side suffered a setback when they went down to Namibia in the group stages.
“This is the big one. We are playing against the hosts and from what we saw in their clash against Namibia, they already have a 12th man on the field in terms of support. But we have got boys who have the courage to stay in that kind of situation. We watched a bit of them, they are not different from what we got from Zambia, they’ve got very good individuals.
“We have done good so far and the confidence of the boys is ok on the basis that the main objective has been completed, even though we want to also fight and go back home with the trophy. All in all, we are good and ready to go and represent the country,” said Mdaka.
The Amajita mentor says while they are feeling some pressure, it is not as high after securing their AFCON spot.
“If you are a professional, each and every game has got pressure, but this one is double the pressure. As much as I say we alleviated a part of that by qualifying for the AFCON, at the same time when you get on the field of play, that pressure of wanting to win, that mentality of wanting to win every game that you play. It’s always there for the coaches and that is our life, that is how we live. We look back where we come from in terms of the games that we played, we still maintain we’ve got the character to stand for all the games that are here at COSAFA,” added Mdaka.
There is also a small battle that will be fought on the sidelines between Mozambique’s Alirio Cuna and South Africa’s Steven Mendes – both are on five goals each and will be eager to finish top of the scorers’ charts.
CAF U20 Men’s Africa Cup of Nations COSAFA qualifiers:
South Africa’s Road to the Final:
[Group Stages]
South Africa 3 – 0 Lesotho
(Steven Mendes x2, Teboho Mlangeni)
South Africa 2 – 0 Angola
(Lazola Maku, Steven Mendes)
South Africa 2 – 0 Eswatini
(Manelis Mazibuko, Milimo Nalumango)
[Semifinal]
South Africa 4 – 2 Zambia
(Steven Mendes x2, Oarabile Booysen, Emile Witbooi)
