South African Under 20 Men’s National Team Head Coach, Raymond Mdaka, has named a preliminary squad of 32 players ahead of the U20 COSAFA Championships to be held in Mozambique from 26 September 2024 to 5 October 2026.
Mdaka will lead the U20 national team for the first time in a major competition where South Africa will be expected to do well in order to qualify for the CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations 2025.
Amajita will assemble for camp on 22 September 2024 and will have a few training sessions before departing for Maputo, Mozambique, on a date yet to be confirmed ahead of their opening match of the tournament on 27 September 2024.
The team has been drawn in Group C of the tournament, and will be looking to get past Malawi, Comoros, and Lesotho for a spot in the semi-finals of the 2024 edition of the U20 COSAFA Championships.
Speaking to www.safa.net, Mdaka said that he was looking forward to the tournament because he and his technical team have been preparing for this moment all year.
“The time is now, and we are happy that all our planning is about to come to light. We are looking forward to the AFCON qualifiers, and we as the Technical Team understand the mandate that we have been given by the Association,” said Mdaka.
“We would like to believe that we have a great plan going into the tournament and also believe that we have the quality of players that will get us into the final, and ultimately to the 2025 AFCON. So we will be going all out in Maputo.
“We have announced our preliminary squad, and this is because we understand the dynamics of football. We hope that we will get all the support we request from the clubs, even though we understand the challenges they have with the local league only beginning this weekend.”