THE COACH of the Under 17 national team, Amajimbos, admits that they were shocked by their defeat by Algeria in the second match of Group D of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) U-17, which is why they consider today’s final group stage match against Ghana as the final.
Vela Khumalo says that his team needs full points in their match against Ghana today at 9 pm at Mohamed VI Complex, Rabat, Morocco, to ensure that they progress to the next round of the Afcon tournament which started last Wednesday, which will conclude on June 2.
In another match of Group D, Algeria will play against Senegal today at 9 pm.
The Jimbos are second with three points in Group D, behind leaders Algeria with four.
The jimbos opened on a good foot by defeating Senegal 2-0 on Thursday but on Sunday they were defeated by Algeria 2-0.
“Our first defeat in this group stage woke us up. What we told ourselves is that we lose as a team and we win as a team.
We all understand that we want to secure a place in the World Cup, and I believe that dream has not disappeared.
We need to win our last game (of the group stage) against Ghana which we know will not be easy as they also want to go to the World Cup.
So our game with them is not easy but we hope to win,” said Khumalo.
In this Afcon U17 tournament played by 16 African teams, the eight that will reach the quarterfinals will have the unique opportunity to secure a place in the FIFA Under 17 World Cup tournament that will be held in Qatar, from November 19 to December 13.
It has become history that Amajimbos reached the quarterfinals of the Afcon U-17 last year, securing a place in the World Cup held in Qatar, where they reached the Round 32 of the knockout stage.
The country has never won the Afcon U-17 title since 2005 when it started playing in this competition, and in 2015 it reached the final and was defeated by Mali 2-0.