Amajimbos head coach Vela Khumalo has admitted that his charges have made things tricky for themselves in qualifying for the 2025 U17 FIFA World Cup knockout stage.
This is after their 1-1 result in their second Group A match against hosts Qatar on Thursday. They are now in second position in the pool with four points behind Italy who they face in the group decider on Sunday. Italy has already qualified with six points while Qatar is third with a point and Bolivia at the bottom with no points.
A draw will be enough for Amajimbos to go to the next round while they also still have a shot as one of the best-third teams should Qatar overtake them after match-day 3.
The coach says they need to prepare thoroughly for Italy to get a win.
“We’ve put ourselves under pressure now,” said Khumalo.
“And it’s a must-win game even though a draw will be enough. But a must win game for us just so we can see ourselves going through which I think we have capability of doing. We only need to go and plan thoroughly for a well-structured Italy.
“We tried to work on the mentality. We spoke about that; we showed the importance of us winning games so that we can go to the next stage. So, we were well aware. I don’t think our boys took it for granted however when you play a team that is sitting back there and kicking the ball out it’s a little bit difficult.
“We wanted to get solutions in the final third but we couldn’t get the solutions. We started with our two strikers and with that we were saying we must just get goals but it did not work out.”
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