SOUTH Africa Under-20s are bracing themselves for a rough match when they face fellow-strugglers Italy in their second Fifa U-20 World Cup match in South Korea tomorrow.
Amajita lost their opening match 2-1 to Japan on Sunday while the Italians also dropped points by losing 1-0 to Uruguay at Suwon World Cup Stadium.
The Amajita and Azzurrini match is scheduled for 10am SA time.
Amajita and Italy are third and fourth respectively in Group D on zero points. Goal difference separates the two.
Victory tomorrow will come in handy for Thabo Senong’s charges as it will give some direction to their journey in the competition.
The winner of this match is virtually guaranteed a third place finish, which should be enough to see them qualify for the next round.
The two top teams of each group and four best third placed teams qualify for the last 16 of the competition.
Amajita striker Liam Jordan said they were not at their best level yet. He reckons they can still do better.
The 18-year-old striker admits losing to Japan was a wake-up call for them: “There were lots of positives from the Japan game.
“We played well, we were leading – it’s just that we didn’t utilise our chances. In the next two group games we are gunning for six points. We know it’s not going to be easy but we can’t afford to drop points.
“We came here to compete and the loss hasn’t changed that. There’s still more to come from us. We are not under pressure yet, we came here expecting good things and we aim to do our best.”
Teammate Thabo Cele, who had some interesting touches in the clash with the Japanese, said they were disappointed but still believe they stand a good chance of making it to the next round.
Said Cele: “We are disappointed with the result. Although our performance was good, we could have done better.
“The plan is to come back stronger. If we lose that would seriously dent our chances of making it to the next round.
He added: “We had a bad start but all is not lost yet. We will need to kill the game with the first chances we create to be on the safe side.”
Coach Senong added that they knew they were in a tough group: “Japan, Asia champions, Uruguay, South America champions – and they also won their first game.
“Italy are very tough to penetrate, so it won’t be easy. We will have to work hard to open up the Italians.”
Amajita’s last group stage match is against Uruguay at the Incheon Football Stadium on Saturday (1pm SA time).