07 Dec 2020

The national under 20 men team will have to bring their A-game to today’s encounter with eSwatini in order to advance to next round of the COSAFA qualifiers for Total U-20 Mauritania 2021 after losing 4-0 to Angola on Sunday.

The game played at Gelvandale Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa saw Angola’s Ambrosini Salvador and Tangu Gastao scoring a brace each, making life difficult for the Young Zebras, as they could not even see the back of their opponents’ net.

The Young Zebras are at the bottom of Group C, which has Angola and eSwatini.

eSwatini are currently leading the group after beating Angola.

Coach Pio Paul and his team need to salvage a win, given that the championship is used as qualifiers for under 20 AFCON, Mauritania 2021 qualifiers.

Paul expressed disappointment in an interview after the game, saying the players did not play as per instructions.

However, he said they were young and still learning.

The coach said they would have to regroup and not give respect to their opponents during their today’s game adding that there was hope that they could beat eSwatini and advance to the next round of the tournament.

“Honestly, we still stand a chance. Group C has only three teams, so this therefore means we have to score at least six goals against eSwatini. 

It is important that we bounce back,” he said.Meanwhile, according to infromation from COSAFA, top teams in each pool as well as best-placed runner-up will advance to the semifinals and the two finalists will win a place at the 2021 Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations. Ends