SA U20 coach confident despite Afcon redraw: ‘We have a very good crop of players’

947’s Robert Marawa speaks to South Africa’s U20 football coach Raymond Mdaka.

Listen below:

South Africa’s U20 national football team was thrown a curveball after CAF was forced to redraw the groups for the U20 Africa Cup of Nations. 

This was after Egypt replaced Côte d'Ivoire as hosts at the last minute.   

The redraw is to ensure that three-time champions, Egypt, are placed in Group A, in line with standard procedure for host nations.

Group A is set to be the toughest with Egypt, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Tanzania. 

While the inconvenience does have a tactical impact on the team, Mdaka is still confident in his team selection.  

He says they have sent call-out letters to the respective teams for the availability of the players they have chosen, and are waiting to hear back. 

“We are selecting in relation to how we play, the strength of the team, and how we are preparing.”

– Raymond Mdaka, SA U20 Football Coach

“We have a very good crop of players… a high percentage of them are players who are playing in the PSL already… the future is bright for them.”

– Raymond Mdaka, SA U20 Football Coach

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the discussion.