Amajimbos start preparations for COSAFA U-17 Championship 

3 October 2019 – The South African U-17 Men’s National Team, Amajimbos, is in camp to start preparations for the 2019 COSAFA Men’s U-17 Championship that will be held in Malawi from 11 – 20 October.

Interim head coach Vela Khumalo has announced a provisional squad of 32 players for the training camp – this will be trimmed down to 20 players before the team jets off to Blantyre, Malawi on Wednesday, 9 October.

South Africa has been drawn in Group A alongside hosts Malawi, Zambia and Eswatini.

A top two finish in this group will guarantee them a place in the knockout stages of this eight-nations regional football tournament.

Khumalo said he was happy with a number of players who reported for camp on the first day, adding that he was looking forward to a very fruitful camp.

“It is good news that all the players we have called up have reported for national team camp, except for the three that will only be joining us later,” Khumalo said.

“We have in our squad U-14s and U-15s for this year’s edition because we are building for next year’s COSAFA U-17 tournament – this will double up as the 2021 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, where the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup participants will be decided.

“This year’s edition provides us with an opportunity to introduce our players to the demands of this tournament, while also carrying out our objective of doing well in every match that we will be competing in,” Khumalo added.

In Malawi, Amajimbos’ first group match will be against the hosts on 12 October, before they lock horns with Zambia on 14 October.

Both of those matches will take place at Mpira Stadium, before Amajimbos take on Eswatini in their final group match at Kamuzu Stadium.

All of Amajimbos’ group matches will kick-off at 14h00.

SA U-17 MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROVISIONAL SQUAD LIST

2019 COSAFA: 2 – 21 OCTOBER 2019