Nigeria have teased U-20 Afcon semi opponents Amajita as ‘junior brothers'
Amajita coach Raymond Mdaka ranks guiding to them to their fifth Fifa Under-20 World Cup as the biggest achievement of his career.
He vowed his side will give their all in Thursday's Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations semifinal against Nigeria, though they have already achieved 'the bigger goal' of sealing qualification for the World Cup in Chile in September and October.
Mdaka revealed Amajita have shared a hotel with Nigeria, and the banter started between Flying Eagles and the South Africans before they were pitted against each other in the semis.
Substitute SuperSport United striker Thabang Mahlangu, 19, scored the winner four minutes into added time of the first half of added time in Monday night's 1-0 quarterfinal win against Democratic Republic of Congo at Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia, Egypt.
Thabang Mahlangu does what he does best ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️
His 3rd #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 goal
✊🏽
South Africa 🇿🇦 vs 🇨🇩 DR Congo pic.twitter.com/gCF8w6jTkd
— P Management Sports (@PManagementRSA) May 12, 2025
Mdaka glowed with pride afterwards, saying the qualification was the high point of his career.
'I've achieved some special things as a coach — you remember I took Marumo Gallants to the Confederation Cup semifinals [where they lost to Yanga of Tanzania in 2023] and I won the Cosafa Cup with this team [in October],' the coach said.
'But I will regard taking this team to the World Cup as the highest feat of my coaching career. Qualifying a team for the World Cup is the biggest thing in football.
'It wasn't an easy route, especially because we were in a group of five teams, which means we had to play four matches and we passed that test by qualifying for the quarterfinals. And when we got there we knew we were one step away from going to the World Cup, so the boys really gave their all — and here we are today.'
Amajita face long-standing rivals to South Africa in football Nigeria in their semifinals at Suez Canal Stadium (5pm SA time). Mdaka the Nigerians, staying at the same hotel in Ismailia, have teased Amajita, calling them 'junior brothers'.
'In all our games we plan to play to win and we will continue with that mentality against Nigeria. Yes, we've achieved the bigger goal but we can't just let Nigeria walk all over us.
'We are staying at the same hotel and already they're saying we're their junior brothers, so you already know it will be a tough game, especially with the rivalry too.'
Mdaka surprisingly did not use two of his key players in Kaizer Chiefs' Mfundo Vilakazi and Kutlwano Letlaku of Mamelodi Sundowns against DR Congo. The Amajita coach said the decision was 'just tactical'.
Thursday's later semifinal sees hosts Egypt meet Morocco at Cairo's June 30 Stadium (8pm).
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