19 April 2019 – The South African U-20 Men’s National Team, Amajita, has departed for Saudi Arabia to continue with their preparations for the 2019 FIFA U-20 Men’s World Cup scheduled for Poland next month.

Amajita departed on Saturday night (19 April 2019), after completing their South African leg of preparations in the morning with a practice match against the University of Johannesburg team, where they won 1-0.

“I am very happy with how things panned out in the three training sessions we had since the start of camp, including the practice match against UJ. The boys showed a good demonstration of how we want them to play moving forward, and I am very happy with the outcome – not so much the result but the performance,” said Senong.

“The boys exerted themselves really well and it was a good test for them as it is helping the team to gel as quickly as possible. It was also important for the technical team to see what material we have in the squad as we are heading to such a huge tournament that will require great mental strength and to be in good physical condition.”

The squad is heading to Saudi Arabia where they will play two friendly matches (23rd and 26th April) against the hosts before they head to Poland to face Uruguay on 15 May.

The final preparation game will be against Ukraine three days later (18 May 2019).

“These are very crucial matches because they will assist the players a great deal in getting to understand the demands of what we are going to face in the tournament,” added Senong.

“I must thank the countries we are going to play in these friendlies for agreeing to face us and help with our preparations. Greatest gratitude, however, must also go to the Association for their swift action in securing and confirming these matches in such a short period of time. We could not have asked for better preparations.”

The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup tournament will run from 23 May to 15 June.

Amajita are in Group F alongside Argentina, Korea Republic and Portugal.

The top two in the group will proceed to the knockout stages of the tournament.