{"id":3428,"date":"2025-04-23T14:08:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T12:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=3428"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:41:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T08:41:35","slug":"amajita-jet-off-to-u20-afcon-in-egypt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/amajita-jet-off-to-u20-afcon-in-egypt\/","title":{"rendered":"Amajita Jet Off to U20 AFCON in Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>South Africa\u2019s national U20 side, Amajita, is en route to Egypt as they prepare to kick off their U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign. Coach Raymond Mdaka remains positive about the team\u2019s readiness. This is despite that they face the challenge of travelling without some of their most crucial players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amajita wrapped up their local preparations with a convincing 5-0 victory over Sekhukhune United\u2019s ABC Motsepe League team in Bedfordview earlier this week. While a full-strength squad was not available for the friendly, Mdaka believes the team has gained the momentum they need heading into the continental tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-coach-mdaka-s-adaptability-and-adjustments\"><strong>Coach Mdaka\u2019s Adaptability and Adjustments<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe were hoping to test ourselves against a fellow AFCON participant,\u201d Mdaka said. \u201cUnfortunately, that didn\u2019t work out. We had planned to face Congo before the change in host nation, but logistics didn\u2019t align once the tournament was moved from Ivory Coast to Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the adjustments, the coach feels they\u2019ve made the best of the situation. \u201cAs a coach, you must always be ready to adapt. We would have liked a tougher warm-up match. One that could test our boys mentally and physically, but we\u2019re still satisfied with the level we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-1666555220\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-opening-game-against-host-nation-egypt\"><strong>Opening Game Against Host Nation Egypt<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Amajita will open their Group A fixtures against the host nation, Egypt, on Sunday at the Cairo International Stadium. The other teams in the group include Zambia, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. This makes it a tightly contested pool. Egypt come into the match having suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to Nigeria in a friendly on Tuesday. This could boost Amajita\u2019s confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-key-players-missing-from-the-squad\"><strong>Key Players Missing from the Squad<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the major concerns for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sabcsport.com\/soccer\/news\/amajita-head-off-to-the-u20-afcon-in-egypt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mdaka <\/a>is the absence of some key players. The squad has been trimmed by the unavailability of Shandre Campbell and Mbekezeli Mbokazi. Both were withheld by their clubs. Mbokazi, in particular, has been a significant part of the Amajita setup. He helped the team qualify through their COSAFA U20 Championship triumph last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShandre is with the first team, and the club made it clear weeks ago that it would be tough to release him. It\u2019s the same with Mbokazi. He\u2019s been an integral part of our journey. Not having him in Egypt is a big loss,\u201d Mdaka admitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-1616332548\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-club-commitments-impacting-squad-selection\"><strong>Club Commitments Impacting Squad Selection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Orlando Pirates youngster, still active in the CAF Champions League and with the club pushing for domestic honours, has not been released. Mdaka understands this from a club perspective but regrets it from a national team view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also missing from the lineup is Mabena, another key player, who suffered an untimely injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-high-stakes-for-amajita\"><strong>High Stakes for Amajita<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The stakes are high at this year\u2019s tournament, as the four semifinalists will automatically qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup set to take place in Chile later this year. With such a prestigious reward on the line, Amajita will need to dig deep despite the odds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mdaka\u2019s optimism and the squad\u2019s solid preparation back home will be key. They aim to make the country proud in Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/bafana-bafana-faces-setbacks-ahead-of-2026-world-cup-qualifiers\/\">Bafana Bafana Faces Setbacks Ahead of 2026 World Cup Qualifiers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa\u2019s national U20 side, Amajita, is en route to Egypt as they prepare to kick off their U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign. Coach Raymond Mdaka remains positive about the team\u2019s readiness. This is despite that they face the challenge of travelling without some of their most crucial players. Amajita wrapped up their<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"South Africa\u2019s national U20 side, Amajita, is en route to Egypt as they prepare to kick off their U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign. Coach Raymond...","footnotes":""},"categories":[56,64],"tags":[906,289,905,288],"class_list":{"0":"post-3428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"category-sports-news","9":"tag-afcon","10":"tag-african-football","11":"tag-amajita","12":"tag-soccer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3432,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3428\/revisions\/3432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}