U17 AFCON: South Africa Turns Its Attention To Nigeria After Crucial Zambia Win

• South Africa's Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations campaign finally got off the ground in sensational fashion
• Amajimbos defeated Zambia 3-2 in an all-time classic on Wednesday to boost their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals
• Now, the old enemy Nigeria stands in the way of Duncan Crowie's youngsters, with quite a few permutations at play

South Africa's U-17 men's national team put itself back in the running to reach the quarterfinals of the 2023 Total Energies U17 Africa Cup of Nations.

Amajimbos, as they are known, made heavy weather of beating Zambia 3-2 on Wednesday evening, having led by two goals at one point.

Speaking to SuperSport, coach Duncan Crowie said:

“We scored an early goal which really helped us settle. We also created more unlike the Morocco game and I am happy for the goals. The players had courage and we had good mental strength to put in a performance like that.”

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Crowie was delighted with the fight shown by his players and that they have given themselves a realistic chance to make the quarterfinals, adding:

"It was a difficult game and at times we struggled with defending the long balls from Zambia. We had played against them twice before and lost and this time we did our homework well, prepared better and we knew what to do."

With Nigeria next on the menu, Crowie said according to TimesLIVE:

“Nothing is done yet. This is a tough group and anything can happen. We still have work to do but at least now we have a win to work with. We will just need a draw in that match to get through.”

The match against the Golden Eaglets holds huge importance as the two jostles for one of two available automatic qualification slots. Nigeria is also on three points and whoever wins that duel will finish second.

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South Africa will be keen to battle for the second spot as it will give them a more favourable draw in the quarterfinals.

Somalia makes history

Elsewhere in the host country, Somalia made history during the tournament as was reported by Sports Brief.

The team secured its first-ever point at the Africa U17 Cup of Nations after drawing with the Republic of the Congo on Tuesday night.

The East African nation, which is making its first appearance at the youth competition, also scored its first-ever goal at the tournament in the same game.