There is no easy group, and all teams must be respected. These were the sentiments of South Africa’s U-20 Men’s coach, Raymond Mdaka in his reaction to the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations draw that was conducted in Cairo last week.
Mdaka’s side were drawn in one of the toughest groups of the tournament where they will be up against three former champions in Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria in Group B.
The TotalEnergies CAF U-20 AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2025 will take place from 26 April to 18 May 2025.
Yet to lift the coveted continental title, with their best finish dating all way back to 1997 for a silver medal, as well as 2019 for a third-place finish, Amajita have a tough task ahead of them in a group consisting of former winners.
In Nigeria, Amajita will be up against the most successful side of the tournament who have seven titles to their name, with the most recent being the 2022 edition.
Egypt and Morocco have a title each and will both be aiming to go all the way this year.
Sharing his thoughts on the draw outcome, Mdaka who enjoyed a dream run with his former club, Marumo Gallants in their TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup debut two seasons ago said all groups need to be respected and the draw outcome would help his side prepare better over the next few weeks.
“We long waited for the draw for us to know where we are and who we play. We knew the teams who had qualified but needed to know where we are and who we play. I think all groups must be respected. We are fine with the group that we have, and we will be able to prepare ourselves and play to our best” said a confident Mdaka.
South Africa will be making their ninth TotalEnergies CAF U-20 AFCON appearance with not only the aim of lifting the title, but being amongst the top four finishers who will gain automatic qualification to the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025 set to take place in September this year.
