A favourable draw will be highly unlikely for Amajita at Wednesday night’s draw in Suwon South Korea for the 2017 Fifa Under-20 Cup.
Seedings based on previous tournament performance going back to the 2007 event – SA qualified in 2009‚ and reached the last-16 – have seen South Africa’s Under-20 team placed in the lowest bracket‚ Pot 4‚ for the draw.
Amajita qualified for the U-20 World Cup by reaching the semifinals of the past two weeks’ Caf U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Zambia‚ where they finished fourth with a 2-1 third-place playoff defeat against Guinea in Lusaka on Sunday.
SA coach Thabo Senong travelled on Monday night to Korea on to attend the draw.
From Pot 1 South Africa stand to draw hosts South Korea‚ Portugal‚ Uruguay‚ France or the USA.
Argentina‚ Senegal‚ and Mexico or Japan would be viewed as the tougher draws of Pot 2‚ where New Zealand and Costa Rica might be considered kinder opposition.
From Pot 3 two of the bigger names of world football await in England and Italy. Also in that pot are Zambia‚ semifinal victors over Amajita in the 109th minute of extra time as hosts of the Caf U-20 Afcon‚ who also beat SA 2-1 in the final of the 2016 Cosafa U-20 Challenge Cup in Rustenburg in December.
Honduras‚ Saudi Arabia‚ and Venezuela would be considered the softer draws from the pot.
Amajita are joined in Pot 4 by Iran‚ Vietnam‚ Ecuador‚ Guinea and shock first-time Pacific island qualifiers Vanuatu.
South Africa at the U-20 Afcon had an attack that appeared capable of breaking down any team‚ including the hosts and winners‚ Amajita matching Zambia blow for blow in the semifinal in Lusaka.
SA’s defence tightened up markedly from the group stages‚ where they had squandered a 2-0 lead against eventual finalists Senegal‚ but capitulated to four goals after the break and a 4-3 defeat.
The inability to defeat Guinea in a flat third-place playoff and some defensive frailties suggest there are plenty of areas for Senong to work on if SA are to stand a chance of progressing past the group stage in Korea.
“We had moments when we dominated play‚ especially in the first half. And we had moments where we were too defensive and negative‚ especially in the second half‚” Senong said of the third-place playoff.
He added: “But as a coach I’m proud that we managed to rotate the boys because my objective in this match was to give everybody a run.
“And I’m happy that everybody did‚ because every match we have since qualifying for the World Cup is about assessing our players against tough opposition.”
South Africa have played in two U-20 World Cups.
In 1997 in Malaysia they exited in the first round with a 0-0 draw against South Korea‚ 4-2 defeat against France and 2-0 loss against Brazil.
In 2009 SA drew 2-2 against United Arab Emirates‚ lost 4-0 against Hungary and beat Honduras 2-0 to scrape into the last-16‚ where they lost 2-1 against tournament winners Ghana.
Fifa U-20 World Cup draw rankings:
Pot 1: Korea Republic‚ Portugal‚ Uruguay‚ France‚ USA‚ Germany
Pot 2: Mexico‚ Argentina‚ New Zealand‚ Senegal‚ Japan‚ Costa Rica
Pot 3: Zambia‚ Honduras‚ England‚ Saudi Arabia‚ Italy‚ Venezuela
Pot 4: Ecuador‚ South Africa‚ Iran‚ Vietnam‚ Guinea‚ Vanuatu
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport
Amajita should expect a tough draw for Fifa U-20 World Cup
A favourable draw will be highly unlikely for Amajita at Wednesday night’s draw in Suwon South Korea for the 2017 Fifa Under-20 Cup.
Seedings based on previous tournament performance going back to the 2007 event – SA qualified in 2009‚ and reached the last-16 – have seen South Africa’s Under-20 team placed in the lowest bracket‚ Pot 4‚ for the draw.
Amajita qualified for the U-20 World Cup by reaching the semifinals of the past two weeks’ Caf U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Zambia‚ where they finished fourth with a 2-1 third-place playoff defeat against Guinea in Lusaka on Sunday.
SA coach Thabo Senong travelled on Monday night to Korea on to attend the draw.
From Pot 1 South Africa stand to draw hosts South Korea‚ Portugal‚ Uruguay‚ France or the USA.
Argentina‚ Senegal‚ and Mexico or Japan would be viewed as the tougher draws of Pot 2‚ where New Zealand and Costa Rica might be considered kinder opposition.
From Pot 3 two of the bigger names of world football await in England and Italy. Also in that pot are Zambia‚ semifinal victors over Amajita in the 109th minute of extra time as hosts of the Caf U-20 Afcon‚ who also beat SA 2-1 in the final of the 2016 Cosafa U-20 Challenge Cup in Rustenburg in December.
Honduras‚ Saudi Arabia‚ and Venezuela would be considered the softer draws from the pot.
Amajita are joined in Pot 4 by Iran‚ Vietnam‚ Ecuador‚ Guinea and shock first-time Pacific island qualifiers Vanuatu.
South Africa at the U-20 Afcon had an attack that appeared capable of breaking down any team‚ including the hosts and winners‚ Amajita matching Zambia blow for blow in the semifinal in Lusaka.
SA’s defence tightened up markedly from the group stages‚ where they had squandered a 2-0 lead against eventual finalists Senegal‚ but capitulated to four goals after the break and a 4-3 defeat.
The inability to defeat Guinea in a flat third-place playoff and some defensive frailties suggest there are plenty of areas for Senong to work on if SA are to stand a chance of progressing past the group stage in Korea.
“We had moments when we dominated play‚ especially in the first half. And we had moments where we were too defensive and negative‚ especially in the second half‚” Senong said of the third-place playoff.
He added: “But as a coach I’m proud that we managed to rotate the boys because my objective in this match was to give everybody a run.
“And I’m happy that everybody did‚ because every match we have since qualifying for the World Cup is about assessing our players against tough opposition.”
South Africa have played in two U-20 World Cups.
In 1997 in Malaysia they exited in the first round with a 0-0 draw against South Korea‚ 4-2 defeat against France and 2-0 loss against Brazil.
In 2009 SA drew 2-2 against United Arab Emirates‚ lost 4-0 against Hungary and beat Honduras 2-0 to scrape into the last-16‚ where they lost 2-1 against tournament winners Ghana.
Fifa U-20 World Cup draw rankings:
Pot 1: Korea Republic‚ Portugal‚ Uruguay‚ France‚ USA‚ Germany
Pot 2: Mexico‚ Argentina‚ New Zealand‚ Senegal‚ Japan‚ Costa Rica
Pot 3: Zambia‚ Honduras‚ England‚ Saudi Arabia‚ Italy‚ Venezuela
Pot 4: Ecuador‚ South Africa‚ Iran‚ Vietnam‚ Guinea‚ Vanuatu
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport
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