25 January 2019 –South Africa’s National Under-20 (Amajita) side will play Ghana in friendly match on Monday, 28 January leading up to their first CAF Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations Group A match against hosts Niger.
The friendly match will take place in the city of Niamey, where Amajita will play their two group matches before they travel to Maradi for their final group encounter against Nigeria.
Speaking after Amajita’s first training session after arriving in Niamey on Thursday (24 January 2019), Amajita coach Thabo Senong said this friendly encounter will play a key role in helping his charges to understand what it would be expected of them when the tournament kicks off.
Amajita are in Group A alongside Niger, Burundi and Nigeria.
A top four finish in this eight-nation continental tournament will see Amajita book their place in this year’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup set to take place in Poland from 23 May — 15 June.
“For us, this friendly is about getting our side to adapt to the conditions they will be playing in this tournament,” Senong said. “We chose Ghana because they possess similar characteristics in their play with the countries we will be playing against in our group.
“Ghana are very strong both physically and technically,” Senong added.” This encounter will help us to assess how far we have come in our preparations, and what are some of the few things we need to address with the players before this tournament kicks off”