The Burger King-sponsored South African Men’s U20 National Team has arrived at their base camp in Suwon, Korea Republic.

After almost 24 hours of travelling, the squad reached their destination on Thursday night (11 May 2017 – South Korea is seven hours ahead of South Africa).

Amajita flew out of O.R Tambo International in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 10 May at 17h20 SA time. They were airborne for twelve and half hours en route to Hong Kong, China.

They then took another flight Seoul, Korea Republic where they travelled by road for an hour to Suwon – their base camp for the 2017 FIFA u20 World Cup.

South Africa has been drawn in Group D alongside Japan, Uruguay and Italy.

Amajita arrived in Suwon 10 days before the start of the tournament so that the players can quickly acclimatize to the conditions.

Dr Thulani Ngwenya, Chief Medical Officer of the South African Football Association (SAFA), who is travelling with the team, has advised the players to take it easy and stay focused.

“The next four or five days will be a challenge for us, as the seven hours time difference is very new to all the players. Based on past experience, we felt it best that the team travel early to Korea Republic so that the coaches will be able to get the best out of the players when the tournament gets underway next week,” said Dr Ngwenya.

“We will be taking things easy for a few days, meals will be served a bit later than normal in line with local time and the medical team will be paying extra attention to those affected by jetlag or fatigue.”

Amajita open their World Cup with a clash against Japan on Sunday, 21 May at Suwon World Cup Stadium. Kickoff is at 17h00 local time in South Korea (10h00 SA Time).

They will then take on Italy at the same venue three days later (Wednesday, 24 May) with a 13h00 SA time kickoff (20h00 local time).

In the last group stages match, South Africa will face Uruguay on Saturday, 27 May in Incheon, also at 13h00 SA time.