Amajita coach Raymond Mdaka has expressed dissatisfaction with the manner his charges executed themselves, even after running riot to thrash New Caledonia 5-0 at the 2025 FIFA Under-20 World Cup on Friday morning.
Siwelele FC striker Siviwe Magidigidi grabbed a brace while Siviwe Nkwali, Shakeel April and Lazola Maku weighed in with a goal each at the Estadio El Teniente. The result saw South Africa remain third in Group E with three points, the same as second-placed France who are above them courtesy of the head-to-head record.
It was Amajita’s biggest win at this tournament, with their previous best outing being the 2-0 victory over Honduras at the 2009 edition in Egypt. However, Mdaka was still left unsatisfied with the big victory, as he felt they could have won by a wider margin.
WHY MDAKA IS NOT HAPPY EVEN AFTER AMAJITA’S RECORD VICTORY AT THE U-20 WORLD CUP
“We will always appreciate and welcome a win. But as the technical team we are not happy,” said Mdaka.
“I think it was a game we wanted to win, but we wanted to win with [more] goals and we are not happy in terms of the tactical discipline of our players. We have put in agreements, they know how we are supposed to play, but somewhere, somehow, we lost a number of opportunities where we were supposed to score.”
“Sometimes we were supposed to move forward very quickly. Those are the few things I think we need to improve on and allow our players to be professional in terms of how they behave either in attack or in defence,” added the former Marumo Gallants coach.
“Honestly, this is a team I think should have scored even more than nine or 10 goals, which would put us at an advantage when we go and play the next game.”
Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Mfundo Vilakazi started the match while Mamelodi Sundowns’ Siyabonga Mabena started from the bench and his club teammate Kutlwano Letlhaku was an unused substitute. Vilakazi produced a Man of the Match display.
To reach the knockouts, Amajita will now have to beat the USA in their final Group E match on Sunday. The Americans lead the standings after winning their two matches.
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