Amajimbos to raise their game
Coach Ntseki believes his team still has work to do.
South African national football Under-17 team coach Molefi Ntseki says his side should continue putting in the hard work despite Sunday’s 4-0 win over Botswana in a friendly at Molepolole Stadium.
Amajimbos, who defeated Botswana 2-0 in their first encounter on Thursday, are preparing for their 2015 African Youth Championship qualifier against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam on 18 July.
“I am happy with the returns but there is still a lot of work to be done,” Ntseki told Kick Off. “Some players were nervous but hopefully they will get over that. I think what also held them back was that they didn’t want to lose the matches and so they didn’t want to make mistakes.
“We need to go into a match with a winning mentality. All second halves were much better and players were able to play football the way they have done at training.
Amajimbos will play two more friendly encounters against neighbours Lesotho on Thursday and Sunday, and Ntseki is expecting his charges to raise their game to another level.
“We have to work very hard from here going forward. This is a project that we are working on, and the first leg is out of the way,” he said. “But we must also understand that along the way there will be challenges and if we work as a team and support each other, we will overcome those challenges.
“So when we get to Lesotho we need to do even better and come out of the two countries (Botswana and Lesotho) with a better experience that will help us face Tanzania – that is the whole idea of playing these four matches before heading to our qualifier.”
