16-05-2025
Amajita stun Nigeria — and reach their first U-20 Afcon final in 28 years
Amajita weathered a first-half storm, bravely regrouped and produced a second-half winner against the direction of play of the semifinal to stun Nigeria 1-0 and reach their second Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final.
Tylon Smith's 66th-minute headed goal at Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia earned coach Raymond Mdaka's team the glory of a place in Sunday's final (8pm SA time), where they will meet either hosts Egypt or Morocco, who were playing in the later semifinal in Cairo (8pm SA time).
This makes for the best performance by South Africa in the tournament since the under-20 team coached by Shakes Mashaba that contained stars like Benni McCarthy, Matthew Booth, Junaid Hartley and Stanton Fredericks. They lost 1-0 to hosts Morocco in the 1997 final.
Amajita were fortunate to not go to the break a goal down after a first half where they at times had to desperately defend, the South Africans battling with Nigeria's physical presence and movement in attack.
