South Africa’s U-20 national team captain Khulekani Kubheka has stated that the team will do all it takes to get the better of Nigeria’s Flying Eagles and win the losers final of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations at the Stade General Seyni Kountche in Niamey on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of the match, the goalkeeper stated that they were unlucky in their semi-final outing against Senegal where Givemore Khupe put the ball past his own net in the 71st minute to hand Senegal the win and a spot in the final against Mali. He believes the team will give their best against Nigeria.
Kubheka stated that the game is another opportunity for them to show their worth and prove to South Africans that they can beat the Flying Eagles. “For us, this Nigeria match is another 90 minutes where we will apply ourselves to push for a positive result. Sure we played a goalless draw in our group match, however, this is another opportunity to prove that we can beat them.”
Despite some of the disappointments encountered in the course of the competition, Kubheka said he is happy they got their main aim of attending the AFCON which was to get a 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup ticket. “Our main objective was to qualify for this year’s upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup and also push for the winner’s medal in this tournament. We lost out of that and now we intend to finish off this tournament on a high by beating Nigeria.” He said.
