U-20s hope to shake up tourney 2013-11-12 VETERAN coach Ephraim Shakes Mashaba will lead South Africa at the 2013 Cosafa Under-20 Youth Championships to be played in Lesotho next month. Mashaba - a former Bafana Bafana coach and the man who led the national U-23 side to the 2000 Sydney Olympics where they beat Brazil - will be tasked with leading a revival of the U-20 side after some disastrous recent showings in the regional championship. His experience will add greatly to the sides chances of annexing a title they last won in 2008, which has gone to Zambia in the previous three events. SA have been drawn in a tricky group for this years championship and will face off against champions Zambia, Namibia and Seychelles in their round-robin pool, with just the top side advancing to the semifinals. The last tournament was a disaster for SA under former coach Solly Luvhengo. They were held to a draw by Tanzania and were thumped 5-1 by Zambia to finish third in their pool. A number of past and present Bafana stars have cut their teeth in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations junior championships and with the SA Football Association having put renewed focus on the junior national teams, Mashaba is the big gun they hope will revive the side. Bafana skipper Itumeleng Khune was goalkeeper of the tournament at the 2005 event, while his international teammate and current star of the Orlando Pirates side, Daine Klate, was in the SA side that competed the year before. Amajita are expected to open their competition against the Seychelles in Mafeteng on December 4 (2pm kickoff), before meeting Zambia in Maseru on December 7 (5pm). They will then close out their pool campaign with a clash against Namibia in Maseru on December 10 (4pm).
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 07:02:12 +0000
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