How Amajimbos coaches plan to scout players for AFCON

South Africa’s U17 men’s national football team, Amajimbos assistant coach Aaron Mokoena has revealed how they plan to scout players ahead of the CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] tournament.

The eagerly-awaited competition is set to be held in Algeria in April this year.

The Amajimbos technical team is scheduled to travel across the country scouting players in preparations for their AFCON campaign. 

Mokoena and head coach Duncan Crowie are hoping that everything will go according to the plan as they embark on their journey to search for players.

The former Bafana Bafana captain also added that they will not only look at players based in the country but also invite other players based overseas.  

Amajimbos booked their ticket to Algeria after finishing as the runner-up at the COSAFA U17 Boys Championship held in Lilongwe, Malawi late last year. 

AMAJIMBOS’ TECHNICAL TEAM PLAN

“The plan is that we want to look at more players not only in Gauteng but across the country,” Aaron Mokoena told FARPost. 

“I’m saying this because we mostly selected players from Gauteng when we went for the COSAFA Championship held Malawi.

“That was because we had about two weeks to prepare the team prior to the tournament.”

Mokoena reckons that talent is galore in South Africa, and it’s only a matter of going out there to scout the players that will lead the national team to the promised land. 

AARON MOKOENA CONFIDENT OF SA TALENT 

“For me, we have a lot of players in the country. We just need time to get out there and scout throughly the U17s. We will definitely do that and get what we actually looking for,” he added. 

“And we will not only look at players in South Africa, remember we have other players abroad. 

“So, we need to invite them so we will be able to assess them and make a proper selection when it comes to the players we want to take with to the AFCON.”

SAFA WILLING TO SUPPORT AMAJIMBOS 

“Right now, we are lucky that we have someone like Walter Steenbok as SAFA technical director, and he understands that preparing for the AFCON is very important,” explained Mokoena. 

“He [Steenbok] obviously wants changes. He understands that to go to AFCON we will need a team that will participate, not only to add numbers. And that we will need about more than two camps. 

“At this point, SAFA is really willing to give out support that we will need. And hoping that with support they will give it to us, we will be able to put together a solid squad for the upcoming AFCON competition.” 

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