The South African U20 national team moved a step closer toward securing a semifinal berth at the TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations 2026 Cosafa Qualifiers tournament in Mozambique, with a 2-0 victory over Angola on Monday in their second group fixture.
The Angolans, who opened their campaign with a convincing 4-0 win over Eswatini on Saturday, presented a tough challenge for Amajita.
Coach Raymond Mdaka’s side secured a 3-0 victory over Lesotho in their opener.
In Monday’s clash, it took the South Africans 14 minutes to break the deadlock, with Player of the Match, captain Lazola Maku, scoring a stunning goal.
Four minutes into the second half, Steven Mendes extended Amajita’s lead with a header from Emile Witbooi‘s free kick.
After two games, Mendes already has three goals to his name. He struck twice in South Africa’s 3-0 win against Lesotho.
After watching his charges register another victory, Mdaka told the South African Football Association media team that while his team respects all the teams in their group, they recognised Angola as one of their stronger opponents.
Amajita had executed their tactics well, he said, and they showed resilience in a hard-fought win.
“In football, sometimes you don’t only need a plan, but you need character and the spirit to fight in the field of play, so we really appreciate what the boys did. But also, the technical team did the job very well,” Mdaka said.
He said Amajita had identified Angola’s principal strengths and worked hard to contain the opposition in those areas of the game. At the same time, they maintained the integrity of their offensive strategy.
“As much as we were caught in some other areas, the way we planned gave us the result that we have today. Credit once again to the whole team,” he concluded.
In another Group B fixture, Eswatini outlasted Lesotho 3-2 in a tight contest.
With one game remaining for each team in the group, South Africa tops the standings with an unbeaten record. Angola and Eswatini have won one match each, and Lesotho has lost twice.
The teams will complete their group assignments on Wednesday. South Africa takes on Eswatini at midday, and the game will be broadcast live on Cosafa’s YouTube channel, where the U20 Cosafa tournament is being broadcast.
