Mdaka urges Amajita not to take Eswatini for granted in final group match - TimesLIVE

With Amajita needing a point in their final Group B match against Eswatini on Wednesday to confirm their place in the semifinal of the Cosafa Cup, coach Raymond Mdaka has urged his side not to take them for granted to avoid any disappointment.

Amajita registered back-to-back victories when they beat Angola 2-0 at the ABB Stadium in Matola, Mozambique, on Monday after beating Lesotho in their opening match at the weekend.

They are top of the table with six points, with Angola second with three points, and need only a draw to secure a semifinal spot. Only the group winners along with the best second-place finisher will proceed to the semifinal, with the finalists booking their tickets to the U20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ghana next year.

“Eswatini is not different from Angola. They’ve got the physique, they’ve got good players who can run, and for us is to prepare the players the same way we prepared for this game,” Mdaka told the media after the match.

“We’ve never undermined anyone, but they are also a good team.

“As much as we respect all the teams in the group, we felt that Angola was one of the strong teams, but credit to the boys, they have done really well, tactically so and in terms of character.”

Mdaka said they were spot on in their game plan against Angola and urged his side to show the same character when they meet Eswatini on Wednesday at 12pm at ABB Stadium.

“In football sometimes you don’t only need the plan, but you need the character, the spirit to fight on the field of play. So, we really appreciate what the boys did, but also the technical team did their job very well,” he said.

“We knew where their strong points were and we were able to make sure that defensively we closed those strong areas they had, but at the same time not compromising our attacks. How we plan to play gives us the results that we have and also, again, credit to the whole team.”