1 December 2018 – COSAFA defending champions South Africa’s national Under-20 team (Amajita) arrived safely in Kitwe, Zambia on Saturday evening, two days before the tournament kicks off.

Amajita coach Thabo Senong reported a clean bill of health from his 20-man squad. He said he and his charges are raring to go. Amajita are in Group B and will begin their COSAFA Championship title defence against Mauritius on 3 December 2018.The match will kick off at 15h30 at Nkana Stadium.Senong also stated that he was very pleased with the final squad he had assembled.

“One can never be satisfied with the amount of preparations put in building up to any tournament,” Senong said. “Our main objective was to get these boys both mentally, physically and tactically ready as well. Amajita is a transition team. And what I mean by that is this is where we introduce players from different leagues to a higher level of competition. We are also planning to cap a few players in our upcoming matches.”

Meanwhile, Senong added that he was also happy that they were able to acquire the services of Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder, Tashreeq Matthews, though he could not report for camp earlier due to club commitments.

“I am very happy that Tashreeq is here,” Senong said. “He could not join the team earlier on though, due to club commitments. We now have a very balanced team which I believe will help us to compete in this tournament.”