THE SA under-20 national men’s team have kept their World Cup hopes alive after playing out to a gutsy goalless draw against Nigeria at the Seyni Kounché Stadium in Niamey yesterday.
However, Amajita are flirting with danger as the draw leaves them in a precarious position in their group with only two points in as many games.
Their final group game against Burundi now becomes a must win clash for coach Thabo Senong’s boys if they are to have a chance at progressing to the next round of the competition.
They are looking to be one of the four teams that will represent Caf at the U-20 FIFA World Cup in Poland later this year.
Amajita have dominated the Southern part of the continent but have found it much tougher to do the same against the rest of the continent.
Their hopes of improving on their best finish at the competition, which was third place back in 1997, are still alive but they are leaving it late.
Amajita were on the back foot for much of the game as the more fancied Flying Eagles dominated possession.
Their good organisation and discipline came to the fore again as they snuffed out all of Nigeria’s attacks with relative ease.
Senong’s boys, who are without star striker Lyle Foster, lacked the cutting edge every time they attempted to launch their own attacks.
They had a golden opportunity to snatch all three points at the death, but midfielder Siphesihle Mkhize couldn’t repeat his exploits from the first game after a set piece.
