30 April 2019 – South Africa’s National Under-20 (Amajita) side held their first training session in Szamotuly, Poland at the Hotel Marathon Business & Sports Centrum training grounds on Monday afternoon, after arriving in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Amajita are in camp preparing for the upcoming 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup tournament which will run from 23 May to 15 June here in Poland.
The national juniors are pitted in Group F and will compete with the likes of Argentina, Korea Republic and Portugal in pursuit of reaching the knockout stages of this global footballing competition.
The last time Amajita achieved such a feat was back in 2009 where the national juniors, under the leadership of former coach Serame Letsoaka, lost 2-1 to Ghana in the last 16 of the competition.
In the upcoming biennial global footballing showpiece, Senong’s charges will first take on six-time world champions Argentina on 25 May at the Tychy Stadium, just two days before their second Group F fixture against previous FIFA U-20 World Cup hosts, Korea Republic, in the very same venue on 28 May.
Amajita will then face 12-time FIFA U-20 World Cup participants, Portugal, in their final group match at the Bielsko-Biala Stadium on 31 May. All matches will kick-off at 20h30 (SA time).
Amajita coach Thabo Senong expressed his delight over how his charges started off with their World Cup preparations, adding that their two friendly fixtures against Saudi Arabia helped him to lay a tactical foundation on how he wants the team to play moving forward.
Amajita won 2-1 in their second friendly against the Asian side, following a 1-0 defeat they had suffered in their first match against them. The coach further stated that he hopes to build from that performance as they continue with their preparations for the upcoming FIFA World tournament.
Senong’s charges will take on Ukraine on 18 May as part of their World Cup preparations.