{"id":95074,"date":"2026-05-09T12:35:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T10:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=95074"},"modified":"2026-05-09T12:35:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T10:35:35","slug":"gdl-stars-dominate-amajimbos-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=95074","title":{"rendered":"GDL stars dominate Amajimbos squad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amajimbos players are preparing for their journey to Morocco for the u17 Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off on Wednesday, 13 May. Photo: SAFA<\/strong><\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vela Khumalo<\/strong><\/a>, the u17 coach of the South African National Team, Amajimbos<\/em>,<\/strong> announced his squad for the Confederation of African Football (Caf) u17<\/strong> Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon)<\/strong> tournament in Morocco on Friday, with most players of the squad currently playing in the Gauteng Development League (GDL)<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tournament kicks off next week on Wednesday in the city of Rabat at the Prince Moulay El Hassan Stadium<\/strong>, where the host nation, Morocco<\/strong>, faces Tunisia<\/strong> in the opening match.\u00a0Amajimbos start their campaign against Senegal<\/strong> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Khumalo’s players will need to perform exceptionally well in Group D, which is arguably the most challenging group in the tournament. It also includes Senegal, the 2023 champions, Ghana, the two-time champions, who first won in 1995<\/strong><\/a> during the inaugural tournament, and Algeria<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the South African Football Association (SAFA) Media Team, Khumalo<\/strong><\/a> assessed his team’s chances of advancing beyond the group stages. “What we have seen is that we stand a good chance, and we can get out of this group,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We know that Senegal is a little bit physical, and they are big. The same goes with Ghana. Algeria is more or less like us. We have done our analysis on all of them, and we think we can do well.”<\/p>\n

Khumalo’s team is focused on qualifying for the 2026 u17 FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year – a huge source of motivation for all Afcon participants.<\/p>\n

The goal remains the same, Khumalo said, and the 2026 team is determined to match last year’s team, which qualified for the World Cup<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We said that going to the World Cup is not about getting out of the group stages, but we also want to see ourselves going further in the tournament,” he said.<\/p>\n

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u17 South African National Team Head Coach, Vela Khumalo. Photo. Kaizer Chiefs Youth on Instagram<\/strong><\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Khumalo’s squad features an abundance of GDL players, with Kaizer Chiefs<\/strong> and Mamelodi Sundowns<\/strong> prominently featuring among the selected players.<\/p>\n

Lwandiso Radebe<\/strong>, from St Stithians College<\/strong>, is a regular presence at the international level and represents ‘Downs<\/strong> at <\/em>goalkeeper. He joined the Brazilians<\/strong> <\/em>last year after progressing through the SuperSport United Academy<\/strong>. He also captained Amajimbos at the u17 Afcon in Morocco.<\/p>\n

Radebe was named the Goalkeeper of the Tournament<\/strong> and earned a spot in the Best XI at the 2025 African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games<\/strong> <\/a>in Namibia.<\/p>\n

South Africa’s u17 team contested the u20 Cosafa tournament<\/strong>, which formed part of the Region 5 Youth Games, and won the title, beating Malawi 3-0 in the final.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Radebe was also crowned the Goalkeeper of the Year on SuperSport Schools’ Football on 216 Awards Show<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other goalkeepers selected for Afcon include Radebe’s team-mate, Ethan Garcia<\/strong>, and Chiefs’ Keabetswe Morake<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Apart from those players selected from GDL clubs, the defensive lineup also features Orlando Pirates’ Tristan O’Malley, Neo Mangcaka<\/strong> from Ubuntu Football Academy<\/strong>, and Zazi Qotoyi<\/strong> of Cape Town City<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Qotoyi is expected to play a crucial role in leading the defence and safeguarding the goalkeepers. In 2025, the Citizens<\/strong><\/em>‘ defender helped his side clinch the Western Cape Engen Knockout Challenge<\/strong>. They later won the Engen Champs of Champs with the Blue and Gold Army<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. He was named the Engen Champ of Champs’ Defender of the Tournament<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Up front, Mpho Molepo, Omphemetse Sekgot, Siyabonga Mbongo, <\/strong>and Ntokozo Madondo<\/strong>, all from Sundowns, will be relied upon to score goals. They’ll be joined in the attacking line by AmaZulu<\/strong>‘s Obama Mhlongo<\/strong> and Samkelo Mkhonto<\/strong>, of TS Galaxy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Goalkeepers\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ethan Garcia – Mamelodi Sundowns
\nLwandiso Radebe – Mamelodi Sundowns
\nKeabetswe Morake – Kaizer Chiefs<\/p>\n

Defenders\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tashiel Rugunanan – Kaizer Chiefs
\nReotshepile Malete – Kazier Chiefs
\nTristan O’Malley – Orlando Pirates
\nNeo Mangcaka – Ubuntu Football Academy
\nZazi Qotoyi – Cape Town City
\nLutho Makunga – Kaizer Chiefs
\nBraythen Moffit – Kaizer Chiefs
\nTumelo Moerane – Kaizer Chiefs<\/p>\n

Midfielders\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesse Gewer – Kaizer Chiefs
\nInganathi Simana – Mamelodi Sundowns
\nAphelele Majola – Mamelodi Sundowns
\nJaylen Potgieter – FC K\u00f6ln Academy<\/p>\n

Forwards\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mpho Molepo – Mamelodi Sundowns
\nOmphemetse Sekgoto – Mamelodi Sundowns
\nObama Mhlongo – AmaZulu
\nNtokozo Madondo – Mamelodi Sundowns
\nSiyabonga Mbondo – Mamelodi Sundowns
\nSamkelo Mkhonto – TS Galaxy<\/p>\n

Head Coach<\/strong> – Vela Khumalo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vela Khumalo, the u17 coach of the South African National Team, Amajimbos, announced his squad for the Confederation of African Football (Caf) u17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament in Morocco on Friday, with most players of the squad currently playing in the Gauteng Development League (GDL). The tournament kicks off next week on Wednesday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":95075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95074","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\/95074","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=95074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}