Senong becomes first SA coach to qualify for two consecutive SWC

Cape Town - Amajita head coach Thabo Senong does not take personal pride in becoming the first South African coach to have qualify for back-to-back U20 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

As a matter of fact, it is a milestone in which he believes was achieved by a collective rather than an individual.

Amajita qualified for their second World Cup in a row after finishing within the top four of this year’s CAF U20 Africa cup of Nations, which took place in Niger last month (February).

They also finished third, and thus securing their first ever bronze medal in their history of competing in the continental showpiece.

In both the 2017 and 2019 U20 Africa Cup of Nations’ road to World Cup qualifications, Senong worked with Helman Mkhalele, who still serves as his assistant coach.

Senong also stated that he would not have achieved this important milestone without the unwavering support of his technical staff and the Association in both the 2017 and 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup qualification campaigns.

The upcoming 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup will take place in Poland from May 23 - June 15.

Amajita are in Group F; and will compete with the likes of Argentina, Korea Republic and Portugal in pursuit of reaching the knockout stages of the tournament.

“I am truly honoured and humbled at the same time to have led the national team to their second FIFA U20 World Cup in a row,” Senong said as quoted by the official SAFA website.

“None of this would not have been possible if it was not for the tremendous support I have received from my technical staff.

“The last three years have been really good for Amajita and we are looking forward to the upcoming FIFA U20 Word Cup tournament set place in Poland in the coming three months.”

Amajita will play Ukraine on 18 April in a friendly leading to the international football event.

Senong stated that having more competitive friendlies such as this one leading up to this international tournament, will play a key role in getting his charges ready for the battle that is up ahead.

“We are drawn in a very good group and we are looking forward to the upcoming battle,” Senong said.

“We already have video footage of our Group F opponents and we will do everything in our power to prepare the team for our group fixtures.

“Our intention is to advance from the group and progress into the knockout stages of the tournament”