30 November 2020 – The Nelson Mandela Bay has become the happy hunting ground for national teams, with the national under/17, Amajimbos becoming the latest team to enjoy the windy city’s luck charm.
Amajimbos beat Zambia 4-2 on penalties in the COSAFA Cup final on Sunday and in the process qualified for next year’s Junior AFCON tournament scheduled for Morocco.
Banyana Banyana defended their COSAFA Cup title in Port Elizabeth and Sunday was the turn of Amajimbos to follow suit.
Bafana Bafana walloped Sao Tome 4-2 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, the same venue they won last year’s Nelson Mandela Inaugural Challenge when they beat Mali 2-1.
These results means Amajita coach Helman Mkhalele will begin the COSAFA u20 tournament under pressure to emulate Banyana Banyana, Bafana Bafana and Amajimbos by doing well in the upcoming tournament which kicks off on 3 December, again in the Nelson Mandela Bay.
‘’I would like to congratulate our latest heroes, Amajimbos for winning the u/17 COSAFA Cup title. They told themselves that they would not be outdone by their seniors in achieving excellence in the COSAFA Cup and duly won the title.
‘’They played their hearts out during the final, having lost to the same side in the group stages a couple of days before the final. We are proud of these rising stars,’’ said SAFA President, Dr Danny Jordaan.
The SAFA President said it was now up to Amajita coach Mkhalele to complete a remarkable year for South Africa’s national teams.
‘’He (Mkhalele) can put the icing on the cake by making it a treble for our national teams. That will be an early Christmas present for our soccer loving public.
‘’Our national teams have done really well this year and we expect this trend to continue in 2021.’’