SA U17 coach Crowie reveals COSAFA Cup expectations

The South African U17 men’s football team head coach Duncan Crowie has revealed his expectations from his side Amajimbos ahead of the COSAFA U17 Championship due to take place in Lilongwe, Malawi. 

The regional competition will be used as the qualifiers for the CAF TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] set to be played in Algeria next year.  

Amajimbos are drawn in Group B alongside Zambia, Mozambique and Seychelles.

Coach Crowie has stated that he expects his troops to do everything in their power to qualify for next year’s U17 AFCON tournament. He also admitted that it was challenging to assemble the squad. 

CROWIE’S EXPECTATIONS… 

“There is that expectation of wanting to win, and if you play a game in any match and there is no pressure on you, then you are not serious about it, and if there are serious about it, then they will do their best and how they deal with it is part of the development,” Crowie told COSAFA TV.

“The most important thing is to do your best. There is nothing more I could ask of the players and everybody.

“Everybody including myself is looking forward to this tournament. It is the first time these players will be playing in COSAFA qualifiers.

THE TEAM SELECTION

Crowie continued: “It wasn’t easy to assemble this team in the first place, everybody thinks the players are good enough even though we didn’t have much time to do so.

“But with the time that we had, my assistant and I came up with a team that will represent our country well and hopefully deliver on our expectations.”

Amajimbos will go head-to-head with Seychelles in their group stage opener on December 3 at Bingu National Stadium. 

South Africa missed the 2021 tournament due to the Covid-19 pandemic and will be gunning to regain the title that they had won two years ago.

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