Head coach of the Burger King-sponsored South African U20 Men’s National Team, Thabo Senong, says despite losing their first two matches of the FIFA U20 World Cup, they can still bounce back and beat Uruguay.

Amajita and the South Americans face off in the last group stages match on Saturday, 27 May 2017 at Incheon Football Stadium, Korea Republic.

Kickoff is at 20h00 local time (13h00 SA time).

Senong’s charges are yet to register a win after two games, while Uruguay are flying high with six points from two wins: 1-0 over Italy and 2-0 against Japan.

South Africa lost 2-1 and 2-0 to Japan and Italy respectively.

Amajita are bottom of the table while Uruguay is leading the pack.

“Uruguay is a hard side to beat but it is not impossible. We have been working hard on how to deal with them and I have strong belief that they boys will deliver as expected because we have emphasized to them that they are worthy of being in the World Cup,” said Senong.

“We are all aware it will be a tough day at the office but we have to play for pride. The boys are fully aware of the situation that is why I believe they will come out strongly against Uruguay. As matters stand, our world cup run has come to an end but it doesn’t mean we have to make things easy for the opposition – we are going there to fight for victory. It would be a great morale booster for the boys’ confidence if we were to get a win, especially against a high-riding team like Uruguay. It is a fact that the last two results derailed our plans but it’s all in the past we have to focus on what’s ahead of us. I am confident we will do well.”

Uruguay is making their 15th appearance at the FIFA U20 World Cup and has been ever present in the last five editions since 2007.

Their best result was in 1997 and 2013 when they came second.

They are the current champions of South American Youth Football.

NB:      The top two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams advance to the round of 16

South Africa U20 World Cup History

2009 – Round of 16

2011 – Did not qualify

2013 – Did not qualify

2015 – Did not qualify

2017 – QUALIFIED

 

*** 3RD APPEARANCE – 2007, 2009, 2017

 

URUGUAY U20 World Cup History:

2009 – Round of 16

2011 – Group Stage

2013 – Runners up

2015 – Round of 16

2017 – QUALIFIED

*** 14 APPEARANCES – 1ST IN 1977

*** BEST RESULT – RUNNERS UP (2013)

 

2017 FIFA WORLD CUP

Group D P W D L GF GA GD    
URUGUAY 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 6  
ITALY 2 1   1 2 1 1 3  
JAPAN 2 1 0 1 2 3 -1 3  
SOUTH AFRICA 2 0 0 2 1 4 -3 0