Amajita have it all to do in Youth Champs

AMAJITA must banish their hoodoo and beat Lesotho in Soweto on Wednesday to stay in contention for the 2011 African Youth Championships.

South Africa Under-20 embarrassed the nation losing 4-2 to Mali in their opening match at Dobsonville Stadium yesterday.

The West Africans made their intensions clear as early as the 11th minute when Cheik Doumbia easily beat goalkeeper Tawfeeq Salie before Lucky Nguzana equalised in the 20th minute.

Kalifa Coulibaly, a France soccer giants Paris Saint Germain's academy player, restored the lead, albeit from an offside position then slotted the third on 38th minute.

Salie then gifted the Malians the fourth when the keeper spilt the ball into the path of Ibrahima Diallo who easily guided it into the net before Nguzana grabbed his brace in the 80th minute.

South Africa assistant coach Solly "Homebody" Luvhengo said: "Our approach to the match was bad, we were too casual and allowed Mali to take charge.

"The other problem is that we gave away two silly goals, the other goal by Mali was scored from an off-side position, but we are not going to cry over spilt milk.

"We are playing against Lesotho and must win that match to keep our hopes of qualifying for the World Youth Championships again alive."

"We watched Lesotho's game and have identified their strengths and weaknesses," added Luvhengo. Lesotho have defeated South Africa in all their three previous matches.