The South African men’s national Under-20 team has secured two friendly matches against Mali as part of their preparations for the 2017 Caf Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Zambia next month.

Amajita will host their West African counterparts on February 16 and 19 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Limpopo.

Before they take on Mali‚ Amajita will travel to Ndola‚ Zambia‚ for another friendly match on February 8 and South African coach Thabo Senong said he was excited to have secured friendly matches against hosts Zambia and Mali.

“We are very happy to have secured these matches and I believe we will gain a lot of momentum against Zambia and Mali‚" he said.

"We have two West African teams in our group at the Cup of Nations‚ so these matches will assist us in addressing the strengths and weakness of the West Africans.

"In the match against Zambia‚ we will be looking more at ourselves.

"We need the players to gain confidence in the box‚ we need our midfielders and defenders to play as a unit and we need to re-emphasize the levels of fitness.”

Amajita will begin their first phase of preparations on Thursday before travelling to Zambia.

The team will then break camp for a few days before regrouping for the second phase of preparations on February 13.

They will pitch tent in Limpopo and play the two matches against Mali.

The first match against the Eagles of Mali will be played behind closed doors on February 16 and the official international friendly will take place on February 19 at 3pm.

Entrance is free. - TMG Digital