{"id":54043,"date":"2024-08-02T10:32:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T08:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=54043"},"modified":"2024-08-02T10:32:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T08:32:46","slug":"safa-announces-34-strong-amajimbos-preliminary-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=54043","title":{"rendered":"Safa announces 34-strong Amajimbos preliminary squad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"With the 2024 u17 Cosafa Championship<\/strong> scheduled for December, a little over three months away, the South African Football Association (Safa)<\/strong> is ramping up the South Africa u17 team’s preparations for the showpiece event.<\/p>\n

The side, fondly known as “Amajimbos<\/strong>“, is set to travel to Lesotho later this month for two international friendly matches against the Likuena<\/strong> of Lesotho on 16 and 18 August.<\/p>\n

The fixtures will serve to build the South Africans’ international experience, camaraderie, form and general team ahead of the Cosafa Championships.<\/p>\n

Before that, the Amajimbos will further bolster their international resume in the Six Nations Talent Development Scheme (TDS)<\/strong> tournament, which takes place in in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from 2 to 8 September.<\/p>\n

“Our junior teams have to continuously be active for us to become a powerhouse when we compete in the Caf u17 Afcon and junior World Cups,” Walter Steenkamp<\/strong>, the Safa Technical Director told safa.net.<\/p>\n

“Our TDS program has been very clear from day one, and we intend on ensuring that we produce a quality u17 national team that will participate in the next Fifa u17 World Cup, a team that has adequate international experience.<\/p>\n

“As things stand, our players have at least five to six international caps to date, and these two camps will provide them with an opportunity to add to the experience they already have.<\/p>\n

“Under the TDS programme, we have already had player camps, played in a Three Nations tournament in Morocco, also played two international friendly matches against Colombia, and will now play against Lesotho and five other African countries in Ivory Coast,” he added.<\/p>\n

Running an eye over the 34-player squad, it is refreshing to note that Safa has looked beyond South Africa’s shores to also include South African talent that is being groomed abroad.<\/p>\n

SQUAD
\n<\/strong>
\nSive Pama (Cape Town City, RSA)
\nBokang Leshilo (Mamelodi Sundowns, RSA)
\nKamohelo Mareletse (Unattached, RSA)
\nLwandiso Radebe (Supersport United, RSA)
\nSteven Mendes (Kaizer Chiefs, RSA)
\nLehlohonolo Mosia (University of Pretoria, RSA)
\nEthan Garcia (Joburg City, RSA)
\nNeo Bohloko (Kaizer Chiefs, RSA)
\nLuke Holden (Mamelodi Sundowns, RSA)
\nZiyanda Mchunu (Kaizer Chiefs, RSA)
\nSelwyn Stevens (Mamelodi Sundowns, RSA)
\nKarabo Modika (Mamelodi Sundowns, RSA)
\nAdriano Adams (Cape Town Spurs, RSA)
\nRocco Rocha (Amazulu, RSA)
\nThabiso Maya (Mighty Spurs, RSA)
\nThabang Mphanya (TS Galaxy, RSA)
\nHayden Booysen (Ubuntu FC, RSA)
\nAnovuyo Mcoqi (Cape Town City, RSA)
\nEmile Witbooi (Cape Town City, RSA)
\nSamuel Salminen (K\u00e4pyl\u00e4n Pallo, Finland)
\nRay Morton (K.A.A Gent, Belgium)
\nEzio Panellati (Estoril, Portugal)
\nKhai Vally (Fulham, England)
\nSimanga Pedersen (Frederica Academy, USA)
\nAnando Petit (BV04 Dusseldorf, Germany)
\nMusa Heitakangas (FC Honka Youth, Finland)
\nPaulo Da Silva (University of Pretoria, RSA)
\nObama Mhlongo (Amazulu, RSA)
\nSivuziwe Lonzi (Ubuntu FC, RSA)
\nAyanda Madondo (KZN Academy, RSA)
\nAbulele Dlekedla (Cape Town City, RSA)
\nMashudu Tshiovhe (Ramantsha Blackpool, RSA)
\nBokamoso Mokokosi (Kaizer Chiefs, RSA)
\nKhayalethu Mzimela (British Football Academy, RSA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the 2024 u17 Cosafa Championship scheduled for December, a little over three months away, the South African Football Association (Safa) is ramping up the South Africa u17 team’s preparations for the showpiece event. The side, fondly known as “Amajimbos“, is set to travel to Lesotho later this month for two international friendly matches against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":54045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54043\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}