{"id":86707,"date":"2025-11-16T12:22:40","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T10:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=86707"},"modified":"2025-11-16T12:22:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T10:22:40","slug":"japan-ends-amajimbos-world-cup-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=86707","title":{"rendered":"Japan ends Amajimbos’ World Cup run"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
South Africa’s challenge at the u17 FIFA World Cup, in Qatar, ended in the round of 32 with a 0-3 loss to Japan. Photo: SAFA.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coach Vela Khumalo<\/strong> and the Amamjimbos<\/strong> <\/em>reached the end of the road at the u17 FIFA World Cup<\/strong> on Saturday after going down 0-3 to Japan<\/strong> in a round of 32 match played at the Aspire Zone<\/strong>, in Doha City, Qatar.<\/p>\n

It was goalless at the break, although both sides squandered opportunities to score.<\/p>\n

South Africa’s Neo Bohloko<\/strong> and Selwyn Stevens<\/strong> came close to netting, but they were denied by Japan’s goalkeeper, Ethan Scally<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Japan came even closer to breaking the deadlock when they struck a goalpost, and they caused the South Africans trouble in the air, but neither side was able to conjure up a breakthrough.<\/p>\n

In the second half, Amajimbos’ goalkeeper, Lwandiso Radebe<\/strong>, found himself under increased pressure and that led to the Mamelodi Sundowns<\/strong>‘ net-minder being beaten three times.<\/p>\n

Only three minutes after the restart, Hiroto Asada<\/strong> fired the Japanese into the lead. Just before the hour-mark, Minato Yoshida <\/strong>extended the East Asian team’s lead and, 13 minutes later, in the 72nd minute, Shota Fuji<\/strong> made it 3-0, all but sealing victory for his side.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, Amajimbos’ coach Velo Khumalo said that it had been a contest of two halves. “We were in the game in the first half, and we should have taken the three or four chances that we created, but we take the lessons,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The second half was more of a mistake from us, and they scored, and that opened up the game. But then we lost concentration and they scored two more goals,” Khumalo told the media.<\/p>\n

Despite his side’s defeat, Khumalo felt his team performed well and demonstrated resilience. He, also, acknowledged the exceptional performance of Japan’s goalkeeper, Scally, who kept South Africa off the scoresheet.<\/p>\n

With the loss, South Africa joined their southern African rivals, Zambia<\/strong>, on the sidelines after the Zambians fell 1-3 to Mali<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Tunisia <\/strong>was beaten 2-0 by Austria<\/strong>, Switzerland <\/strong>won 3-1 against Egypt, and Uganda<\/strong> edged out Senegal<\/strong> 1-0.<\/p>\n

Morocco <\/strong>advanced 4-3 from the penalty spot after a 1-1 draw with the United States<\/strong>, while Burkina Faso <\/strong>took down Germany<\/strong>, winning 1-0.
\n<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Amajimbos are anticipated to arrive back in South Africa on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Last 32 Results from the African Nations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday, 14 November<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mali 3-1 Zambia
\nSwitzerland 3-1 Egypt
\nMorocco (3) 1-1 (3) USA<\/p>\n

Saturday, 15 November\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Uganda 1-0 Senegal
\nJapan 3-0 South Africa
\nBurkina Faso 1-0 Germany
\nAustria 2-0 Tunisia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coach Vela Khumalo and the Amamjimbos reached the end of the road at the u17 FIFA World Cup on Saturday after going down 0-3 to Japan in a round of 32 match played at the Aspire Zone, in Doha City, Qatar. It was goalless at the break, although both sides squandered opportunities to score. South […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":86713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86707","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\/86707","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\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/86713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}