Amajita crowned African kings for the first time after beating Morocco in Under-20 Afcon final
Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations
Neo Rapoo of South Africa challenges Hamza Koutoune of Morocco during the Unider-20 Africa Cup of Nations final at 30 June Stadium in Cairo on Sunday night. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
Ole, Ole, Ole! The South African Under-20 men’s team are finally the kings of African football after winning the Africa Youth Championship in Egypt on Sunday night.
Amajita beat Morocco 1–0 in the final at 30 June Stadium, courtesy of a well-taken goal from Gomolemo Kekana in the second half.
Goalkeeper Fletcher Lowe unleashed a long goal-kick which a Moroccan defender completely miss-kicked, resulting in the ball falling into the path of Kekana. The Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder delayed his effort before eventually unleashing a thunderbolt that rattled the roof of Yanis Marty’s net.
The linesman initially ruled the goal offside, but after consultation with VAR, the goal stood for Amajita, sending the players, technical team, and handful of supporters into a frenzy.
The victory meant that Amajita won the U20 AFCON for the first time in their history, with their previous best finish being a runners-up position 28-years ago. Raymond Mdaka’s team, who qualified for the U20 AFCON finals as COSAFA Championship winners, will now head to the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Chile in September as African champions.
South African football fans will be proud of Amajita’s heroics, as they’ve laid a perfect foundation for the Under-23 Olympic team and Bafana Bafana to build upon. The general hope, however, will be for SAFA to ensure they support these players with adequate preparation ahead of the global event in South America — and beyond.
With North Africa proving to be fertile ground for South African football, Banyana and Bafana will be eager to achieve similar success when they play WAFCON and AFCON in July and December, respectively, in Morocco.
Meanwhile, South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns could make history of their own at this same venue in Cairo, if they beat Pyramids in the CAF Champions League final on 1 June.
Sundowns will host the Egyptian club in the first leg at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday before heading to Egypt. A win for the Brazilians would secure their second African title.
They won their first title — also in Cairo — against Zamalek in 2016, winning the tie 3–1 on aggregate after a 3–0 victory in the first leg and a 1–0 defeat in the second.
SCORERS
SOUTH AFRICA (0) 1
Kekana 70
MOROCCO 0