The South African U17 Men’s National Team bowed out of the FIFA U17 World Cup 2025 following a 3-0 defeat to Japan at the Aspire Zone Complex in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday.
Amajimbos showed great determination, bravery and character by going toe-to-toe with their East Asian counterparts and could have scored at least three goals in the first half, with the chances falling to forwards Neo Bohloko and Selwyn Stevens, only for the Japanese goalkeeper to deny them.
With no goals at the break, Japan grew more confident and Amajimbos goalkeeper Lwandiso Radebe became the busier of the two goalminders. He fought gallantly until he was bridged in the 48th minute, with Hiroto Asada finding the back of the net. The South Africans staged a fightback but found themselves a further goal down when Minato Yoshida made it 2-0 in the 59th minute, before Shota Fujii grabbed the third in the 72nd minute for a 3-0 victory – ending Amajimbos’ journey in the tournament.
“It was a game of two halves – we were in the game in the first half, and we should have taken the three or four chances that we created, but we take the lessons. The second half was more of a mistake from us and they scored, and that opened up the game. But then we lost concentration and they scored two more goals,” said Amajimbos coach Vela Khumalo.
“To be honest, the boys played well and showed character. I think the man of the match should be their goalkeeper. We take a bow and say thank you to the South Africans for the support since we started until now.”
After an absence of 10 years, Amajimbos returned to the world stage and stunned many by qualifying for the second round – the first South African U17 Men’s National team to do so.
They got off to a great start with a 3-1 win over Bolivia, followed by a 1-1 draw against Qatar and then went down 3-1 to Italy in the group stages. Khumalo said a lot of lessons have been learnt.
“In the World Cup you learn so many things. You learn that even if you can be good on the ball, if you don’t know how to use it properly, you’ll be punished. Dedication, tactical discipline, doing things at the right time and knowing exactly in which phase one needs to do, will we get better in the next World Cup? Those are the things that one has learnt to say for us to get even further in the tournament next year, what are the things that we need to take from this World Cup, which I have in my notes,” added Khumalo.
South Africa joins Egypt, Zambia, Tunisia and Senegal who were all knocked out on Saturday, while Morocco, Mali, Uganda and Burkina Faso progressed to the Round of 16. Ivory Coast didn’t get out of the group.
Japan will face North Korea in the last 16 of the tournament and Amajimbos are expected to land in South Africa on Monday afternoon.
SOURCED FROM SAFA WEBSITE.
