Safa president, Dr Danny Jordaan, believes that the South African Under-17 team can qualify for the World Cup.
South Africa is in Group B with Zambia, Nigeria and Morocco and South Africa and the four semi-finalists will go to the Under-17 FIFA World Cup which will be played from November to December later this year.
“We believe that this team can go all the way to the World Cup and join the team on the wall here at SAFA House, which was the last team to qualify for the World Cup,” said Dr. Jordaan during the press conference ahead of the squad announcement.
“We want to wish the technical team all the best. African Under-17 teams seem to dominate at the World Cup. So, we know that by looking at the picture we know it will be a challenge, but the team will be up to the task,” Dr Jordaan said.
The Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations will be played hosted by Algeria from 29 April to 19 May 2023 and the coach Duncan Crowie, said he is happy with the players selected for the tournament.
“When we met on Sunday we could see that commonality between the overseas-based players and the local-based players, and that gave me hope towards selecting this team,” said Crowie.
“No one in the preparation camp was a bad player. Everyone was a talented player, but unfortunately we had to select only 21.
“This is not my party as the coach, but this is the party of the 21 players that are selected. It’s all about them and it is beyond the technical team. They are the ones who will represent the country.
“So far I am happy with the preparations and I hope that we can continue in the same vein towards the tournament.”
By Zola Doda