Head coach of the Burger King-sponsored South African u20 Men’s National Team, Thabo Senong, believes his side will go onto the field as underdogs when they face hosts Zambia in the first semi final of the CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations.

The encounter will be played on Wednesday, 8 March 2017 at National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka.

Kickoff is at 18h00 and this much-anticipated clash will be live on SuperSport 9.

This will be the third outing between the two nations in the past four months, and Amajita will be looking to reverse the results after Junior Chipolopolo won the last two encounters.

“This will be an exciting match as both the COSAFA region countries will be fighting for a place in the final of the CAF u20 AFCON. Zambia beat us in the COSAFA Cup final, and again in the international friendly match that we played before the start of this tournament – but those matches will count for nothing as they are all in the past. I believe it is going to be one entertaining clash and the team that wants it more will come out victorious,” said Senong.

“We also love the fact that no one is giving us a chance, therefore we are the underdogs and we go into the match without any pressure. Things will be different though for Zambia – as hosts, there is not doubt that they will be under immense pressure to continue doing well. They have won all their matches in the tournament so far and their fans will be out in numbers to show support, and they will expect positive results. We did well against Sudan, it would be great to continue from where we left off and also, we would love to see ourselves in the final, so we will fight hard to reach our goal.”

The Senegal will lock horns with Guinea in the other semi-final on Thursday, 9 March.

The final will be played on Sunday, 12 March at Heroes National Stadium at 17h30.

There will be a 3rd/4th place play off match earlier (14h00) at the same venue.