Amajimbos confident they will survive 'group of death' in Algeria in bid to qualify for World Cup

Despite being in a “group of death”, Amajimbos coach Duncan Crowie is confident his side can cope with the pressure to reach the semifinals of the U17 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Algeria to qualify for this year’s U17 Fifa World Cup.    

Amajimbos, as the South African U17 men’s national team is known, are in Algeria for the continental showpiece which started on Saturday.  

All four semi-finalists of the competition will qualify for the World Cup scheduled to take place later this year.  

Crowie’s men, who have been pitted in a tough Group B against Zambia, Nigeria and Morocco, kick-off their campaign against the Moroccan juniors at Stade Mohamed-Hamlaoui on Sunday (9pm, SA time).  

While Crowie admits they are in a tough group, he believes they have prepared well to make the quarterfinals.  

“It’s going to be tough even if it’s against Morocco, Zambia or Nigeria. All those games are going to be tough, we have got to take it one game at a time,” Crowie told the media in Algeria ahead of their opening game.  

“I’m sure that everybody, not just in this group, came into the tournament to get into the semi-finals, and of course to qualify for the World Cup. We can get to the semi-finals  

“Like everybody, we are no different as far as goals for this tournament. We have to come out and perform against all these teams and do our utmost best to overcome this hurdle.”  

Having arrived in Algeria a week before their first game, Amajimbos have had enough time to acclimatise to weather conditions of Constantine, where the team is based.  

Though his team is made up of players from at least 14 teams, Crowie said they have been able to create cohesion within the team.  

“Most of our players are locally based in South Africa, we have a few that are playing in Europe, but the most important thing is that they are from 14 different teams in our squad, and we had to make sure that they gel as a team and that the philosophy is the same,” he said.  

This will be SA’s fourth appearance at the tournament while their best performance was in 2015 when they qualified for the World Cup under former coach Molefi Ntseki. 

The host of the 2023 Fifa World Cup is yet to be confirmed after Peru were stripped the rights to stage the tournament due to unpreparedness. 

The tournament was initially set to be staged in December.