While he's confident about defending the Cosafa under-20 championship, South Africa coach Thabo Senong has cautioned his troops against underestimating Zimbabwe as the two nations face off in the final today in Kitwe, Zambia.

(Kickoff at Nkana Stadium is 3.30pm.)

SA scored 10 goals and never conceded en route to the final.

It was Lyle Foster's solitary strike against Angola in the semifinals on Tuesday that sent Amajita to the decider.

Zimbabwe dispatched the hosts Zambia 2-1 to book their berth in the final.

"We are very optimistic that we will retain our title but we cannot underestimate our opponents Zimbabwe. Just like us, Zimbabwe have been in form in this tournament," said Senong.

"They [Zimbabwe] brought in good players who know how to attack. We just need to respect them and come up with a proper game plan to help us win the match."

Senong was a part of the technical team of SA under-17 girls squad, Bantwana, at the just-concluded Fifa U17 Women's World Cup in Uruguay, hence he did not get enough time to prepare for Cosafa.

"We are very pleased with the team's performance so far, given the fact that we had a very limited amount of time to prepare for it. We did not really prepare the way we usually do.

"We are showing that we are the most ambitious youth team on the continent. The aim was to use this Cosafa championship to prepare for the U20 Afcon in Niger next year. I think we're on the right track."

The U20 Afcon runs from February 22 to March 10. The top three countries in Niger will represent Africa at the U20 World Cup in Poland, starting in May.