South Africa coach Raymond Mdaka reveals how Amajita overcame 'what looked like a mountain to climb' challenge before making U20 FIFA World Cup history

Amajita head coach Raymond Mdaka has revealed that their U20 FIFA World Cup match against the United States appeared like a big challenge at first.

However, Mdaka masterminded a famous victory as South Africa, against odds, managed a 2-1 win against their Group E rivals at Estadio El Teniente in Rancagua, Chile, on Monday. The tactician is happy that the Mzansi youngsters showed character to win the duel.

Individually, Mfundo Vilakazi of Kaizer Chiefs, who was named Man of the Match against New Caledonia, and Mamelodi Sundowns' Gomolemo Kekana, Man of the Match against the USA, were brilliant. 

“They showed character; they showed that they are the African champions. It was not an easy game playing the USA, who had already won two games with a number of goals," Mdaka told Safa.net.

“So, it looked like it was a mountain to climb, but then we agreed as a team to say, ‘Let’s show what we can as a team. And I’m happy because we showed the character," he added.

“You see the score in the first half, and you have to play the second half and be able to maintain, you see, maintain and manage the game under pressure. They would come, yes, and they were coming, but we were able to manage the game tactically and character-wise, something that is always very important for a team, sometimes."

“But credit to the boys, credit to the technical team, the support staff and everybody, because the atmosphere always gives the boys energy to go, and here we are going out of the group stage.”

South Africa just needed either a win, a draw, or not to lose by a very big margin to book their place in the round of 16. Amajita fought hard to win and ensure they were not depending on anyone's favour to proceed. 

Apart from progressing to the knockout phase, the U20 African champions became the first South African team to win two matches at a FIFA World Cup.

Before facing the US, they had registered an overwhelming 5-0 victory over the tournament's debutants, New Caledonia.

This is also the first time Amajita are progressing to the Round of 16 after last doing so in 2019, under Serame Letsoaka. They lost to Ghana in extra time after a 2-1 defeat.

Now motivated, Amajita are training their focus on Colombia, whom they will battle on October 8 at Estadio Fiscal.  

This is expected to be a tough challenge for Mdaka's boys, given that the South Americans topped Group F and will be eager to win and progress to the quarter-finals.