South Africa Under-20 national team head coach Raymond Mdaka has revealed the crucial team talk that inspired Amajita to seal their spot at the 2027 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] in Ghana.
Amajita demonstrated immense character to bounce back from a goal down, defeating a stubborn Zambia 4-2 in Mozambique on Friday, 25 September.
The decisive victory earned the South African men’s U-20 side a place in the regional final against hosts Mozambique, who comfortably defeated Namibia 3-0 in the second semi-final fixture.
South Africa enter the final as back-to-back regional champions. With their qualification for the 2027 U-20 AFCON in Ghana secured, Amajita’s ultimate assignment will be reaching the continental semi-finals next year—a feat that would earn them a coveted ticket to the FIFA U-20 World Cup, set to be co-hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
WHAT RAYMOND MDAKA TOLD AMAJITA BEFORE THE ZAMBIA CLASH
Speaking to SAFA media after the match, Mdaka detailed how he appealed to the players’ pride and psychological readiness before diving into tactical adjustments.
“What I said to the boys, even before we could talk about what to fix, where to improve, I said to them ‘look guys we have got the trophy, and we are the African champions; it will be a bad thing for us not to go and defend the trophy because if you lose it here, it means you’re not going to the AFCON’. I said ‘put that in your mind but we’re not going to put pressure on you’,” said Mdaka.
Mdaka also outlined the tactical approach that neutralised Zambia’s defensive structure, emphasising speed and specific positional tweaks in the attacking third.
“You know our plans against Zambia; we know how they play. For two days we were studying them, checking out how they play. Let’s go back and do the same thing, but this time let’s make sure that we put more numbers in the final third, we increase the speed in the final third, because we realise their defenders were waiting for us to load the ball up front,” Mdaka explained.
“We brought in Emile [Witbooi] to come and play right in front of their centre-backs so that the space they create gives us an opportunity, and indeed it worked for us. But I really appreciate the character of the boys; it’s not easy to come down from 1-0 in this kind of an intensive game and be able to score more goals; that’s a sign of being positive.”
The final between South Africa and Mozambique will be staged at the ABB Stadium 1 on Sunday with kickoff set for 14:00 CAT.
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