HAVING lost his father just two weeks ago, Amajita's Philani Khwela has had an emotionally taxing time recently.
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| Khabo Zondo U20 coach |
As things turned out the South Africans did not exactly cover themselves in glory. They promptly lost their first match of the 12-team tournament 2-1 to Lesotho.
This result makes their game this afternoon against Group B competitors Namibia just a formality.
While the young man from Umlazi did provide the crucial piece of magic that got the South Africans their consolation goal against Lesotho on Monday, he apologised to South Africans for letting everyone down.
"Personally, I think we played well. It is just unfortunate that after falling behind we could not equalise," Khwela said.
"I tried my best but I was not as fit as I would have liked to be. I lost my father and right after his funeral I had to come here.
"We really wanted to beat Lesotho. Now we are out of the tournament and it will all be about pride when we meet Namibia."
He recognises just how drastically things have changed since the glory days when a win against Lesotho was a mere formality.
"It has been a while since we won any match," Khwela said.
Actually, out of the eight matches they have played to date, Amajita have had no meaningful win.
Despite this, Khwela believes this is only a passing phase and that coach Khabo Zondo will get the team back on track in no time.
Today's fixtures: Mozambique vs Madagascar, Swaziland vs Zimbabwe, Zambia vs Mauritius and SA vs Namibia.
Source - Sowetanlive.co.za
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