Ramatsiyi Moholoa
Ramatsiyi Moholoa
Botswana wrapped up their preparations for the preliminary rounds of the 2009 African Youth Championships with a 2-2 draw against Amajita in Mmabatho on Sunday.
Mzansi's neighbours take on Namibia in a first-leg match this weekend, with South Africa planning to spy on the match .
The overall winner might meet Amajita, who got a bye in the preliminaries, at a later stage in this biennial tournament.
Mandla Masango, who plays for Kaizer Chiefs' development side, scored both South Africa's goals against Botswana.
Serame Letsoaka, SA coach, said they were planning to play two more international friendlies before starting with their qualifiers in June.
"We are happy with our preparations, the weekend game against Botswana also gave us an opportunity to try various formations using some of the new recruits," he said.
Some of the new recruits included Vuzile Mnini and Shoemon Petersen, sons of legends Joel "Ace" Mnini and Calvin Petersen.
"We need to get the strongest possible team for the qualifiers because we really need to win well," said Letsoaka.
"It is a cause for concern that our junior national teams have not been qualifying for the world cups for some time now.
"We want to see ourselves doing well at the finals next year (in Rwanda) and also qualify for the World Youth Championships."
The last time a South African team performed well was when Amajita won a silver medal in Morocco in 1997 and went on to reach the World Youth Championships.
Shakes Mashaba was the coach at the time.
Amajita hold Botswana
Ramatsiyi Moholoa
Ramatsiyi Moholoa
Botswana wrapped up their preparations for the preliminary rounds of the 2009 African Youth Championships with a 2-2 draw against Amajita in Mmabatho on Sunday.
Mzansi's neighbours take on Namibia in a first-leg match this weekend, with South Africa planning to spy on the match .
The overall winner might meet Amajita, who got a bye in the preliminaries, at a later stage in this biennial tournament.
Mandla Masango, who plays for Kaizer Chiefs' development side, scored both South Africa's goals against Botswana.
Serame Letsoaka, SA coach, said they were planning to play two more international friendlies before starting with their qualifiers in June.
"We are happy with our preparations, the weekend game against Botswana also gave us an opportunity to try various formations using some of the new recruits," he said.
Some of the new recruits included Vuzile Mnini and Shoemon Petersen, sons of legends Joel "Ace" Mnini and Calvin Petersen.
"We need to get the strongest possible team for the qualifiers because we really need to win well," said Letsoaka.
"It is a cause for concern that our junior national teams have not been qualifying for the world cups for some time now.
"We want to see ourselves doing well at the finals next year (in Rwanda) and also qualify for the World Youth Championships."
The last time a South African team performed well was when Amajita won a silver medal in Morocco in 1997 and went on to reach the World Youth Championships.
Shakes Mashaba was the coach at the time.
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