Amajita must win Afcon for Mashaba and Class of 97

South Africa gets a chance to heal a near three-decade heartbreak. It is a wound that has festered for 28 years, to be exact.

Those with an elephant memory will recall that the South African Under-20 national men’s team mounted a mean challenge to annex the continent — only to fall at the final hurdle.

Driven by drill master Shakes Mashaba, with the attack spearheaded by Benni McCarthy, Amajita, as we adoringly address our U20 squad, faced Morocco in the final of the Africa Youth Championships.

Their spirited challenge followed fresh on the heels of Bafana Bafana, who a year before had captured the imagination of the country and made the continent take notice by lifting the senior Africa Cup of Nations on home soil.

But the Young Atlas Lions of Morocco were in no mood to allow Mashaba, McCarthy & Co to play party poopers as the host nation won 1-0 in Meknes.  

Amajita have the chance to rewrite the script and reverse the roles in a repeat of the 1997 decider.

Now guided by the self-effacing Raymond Mdaka, they will line up against the self-same Morocco at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo to contest the final of the age group competition now known as the U20 Africa Cup of Nations.

Shaken out of a slumber

After a 1-0 setback to Egypt in the tournament opener in Group A, Mdaka’s boys were shaken out of their slumber. Wing wizard Mfundo Vilakazi confessed to the SABC’s Velile Mnyandu that they had taken things too lightly and vowed they would right their wrongs.

From then on, Mdaka masterminded a three-match unbeaten streak: 1-0 against Tanzania; a 4-1 searing of Sierra Leone and a 1-1 draw with Zambia to emerge as top of the group table.

Character? Check. Confidence? Check. Commitment? Check.

Room for error? Zero, because victory in the quarterfinal over the Democratic Republic of Congo presented a double delight: a passage to the last four plus the sweetener of booking a berth in the Fifa U20 World Cup in Chile from September 27 to October 19.

Moreover, it was unthinkable for Amajita to fail where Amajimbos — the U17 national team — had succeeded in April by qualifying for the Fifa U17 World Cup to be staged in Qatar from November 3 to 27.

Thabang Mahlangu’s extra time effort was enough to eliminate the DRC and secure the semifinal spot. Chile, here come Mdaka and his boys.  

But the business in Egypt still had Nigeria lying in wait for South Africa. With Mdaka’s men hellbent to complete the task at hand in regulation time, Tylon Smith made sure with a 66th minute header that shot down the Flying Eagles.

A happy ending deserved

Theirs has been an amazing run that deserves nothing less than a happy ending.

At the back, they’ve been solid, from the safe hands of gloveman Fletcher Lowe — whose 24 saves are the most in the tournament — to the rearguard shored by Teboho Pitso and Jody Ahshene that helped to keep five clean sheets.

Also commendable were the contributions of Kutlwano Letlhaku, Neo Rapoo, Shakeel April, Mahlangu, Smith, Vilakazi… and the rest of these laaities.

They also got this far without Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Shandre Campbell and Siyabonga Mabhena.

Theirs has truly been a team effort, fuelled by the fire first lit 28 years ago, and never to be repeated. Until now, that is. Amajita are on the cusp of history.

Now they have one more job to do, to seal the deal of joining Bafana Bafana’s Afcon-winning Class of ’96 and Banyana Banyana’s Class of 2022, who won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations by beating Morocco 2-1 in Morocco.  

Southern Africa holds a collective breath as Zambia is the sole member of Cosafa who has won the crown.

No one will be more pleased to see Mdaka and his boys lay their hands on the trophy with gold medals dangling on their necks than Mashaba, the grand daddy of South African junior national team coaches.

If not for us, Amajita must beat Morocco tonight and heal the heartbreak of Mashaba, McCarthy and the Class of ’97 that came so near and yet so far.

X- @bbkunplugged99