SA U-20 camp: Mdaka reveals player who left lasting Impression
Amajita head coach Raymond Mdaka has singled out the player who impressed him most after the SA Under-20 camp in Johannesburg.
Mdaka’s charges played two friendly matches with the neighbours, Botswana, to prepare for the upcoming CAF U-20 AFCON tournament.
This comes after Mdaka named his 30-member preliminary squad on Wednesday, 12 March 2025. He is expected to trim the squad to the final 23 players in due course.
The first friendly game between Amajita and Botswana ended in a 6-0 scoreline in favour of Mdaka’s boys. This game was played on Saturday, 22 March at the UJ Soweto Campus.
Meanwhile, the second friendly match took place on Tuesday, 25 March, at the very same venue, with Amajita winning 4-1.
The U-20 AFCON tournament is scheduled to start from 26 April to 18 May 2025, where 13 countries will be vying for the U-20 AFCON title.
The SA U-20 team are pitted in Group B alongside Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco.
THE PLAYER THAT IMPRESSED RAYMOND MDAKA
After the two games, the former Marumo Gallants mentor, Mdaka, was a happy man as he went on to praise his players and staff. The coach said his team was fantastic but reserved special praise for one of his players who impressed him on his debut.
The player in question is Kgomotso Modiba, one of the forwards in the national team from Stars of Africa.
“I’m very impressed with Kgomotso Modiba. You know, for him to just understand how we want him to play. Sometimes the players would come and play individual football,” said Mdaka in a post-match interview with Football Stage.
“That boy is good tactically and technically. He has got skills, and how he applied them here was amazing. He has got a bright future. It’s just for him to gel well with other players. He needs to get confidence from the players who have been here for quite some time.
“There are others that I know who are doing well, like Kabelo Nkgwesa [from Kaizer Chiefs], who was here for the first time. So, these are the kind of players that I have been going out and watching [assessing them]. They might not have come out in this game [against Botswana]. But we know what they have and how much they can assist us.”
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