Amajimbos coach Crowie aiming to reach Under-17 Afcon final

Amajimbos coach Duncan Crowie says they are aiming to go as far as possible at the Caf Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria.

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Crowie and his South African Under-17 squad arrived in the North African country on Sunday. They are based in Constantine, at the Golden Tulip’s Hotel Alexandre, where they will stay for the rest of their group stages matches.

Amajimbos were meant to play a friendly match with Burkina Faso on Tuesday, but it was called off due to the long travelling distance. The West Africans are located in Annaba, one of the three hosting Cities with the other being Algiers.

But, the SA juniors mentor is upbeat about the start of the competition.

“We are looking forward to the next two weeks here or stay as long as we can, possibly till the last day of the tournament. The hospitality has been fantastic,” said Crowie.

“Like everyone else in this competition we want to go as far as we can. Two objectives of course, the first one is reaching the semifinals which will allow us to qualify for the World Cup and (the second is) to go all the way (to the final).”

Amajimbos are placed in Group B at the competition, where they will come up against Nigeria, Morocco and Zambia in the 12 team competition.

Group A has hosts Algeria, Senegal, Congo and Somalia. Meanwhile, in Group C, defending champions Cameroon will face off with Mali, Burkina Faso and South Sudan. In order to qualify for the knock-out stages, two teams at the top of each group will go into the quarterfinals, along with two best third-placed finishers in the groups.

The teams at the tournament are vying for a place at the Fifa Under-17 World Cup set to be played later this year.

Only four nations that make the semi-finals of the Under-17 Afcon will be guaranteed a spot at the junior global tournament, and Crowie is certainly aiming to steer the team in that direction.

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The journey at the continental tournament for Amajimbos starts with a clash against Morocco at Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium on Sunday.

After that, they will take on Zambia on May 3, and they will wrap up the group phase by locking horns with Nigeria three days later.