U-20 AFCON: Blow for South Africa as captain Asekho Tiwani returns home

Photo Credit - SAFA Media.

South Africa national U20 team, Amajita, have suffered a huge blow in their quest to win their first match at the on-going the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament after their captain Asekho Tiwani was released to return home following an injury.

Amajita kicked off their campaign in the competition with a 1-0 defeat against hosts Egypt and as they prepare to come up against Tanzania in their Group A fixture, coach Raymond Mdaka confirmed that the Mamelodi Sundowns defender will not be available to face the East African nation.

“With the captain, it might not be so bad but it's something that cannot heal now – that's the challenge, so we had to release him,” said Mdaka as quoted by SABC Sports. “It's something that might take more than three weeks, we're not sure, but from the doctor's side, it's something that he can't immediately play now.

“It's the biggest blow because we had him and Mbekezeli [Mbokazi], and I would know that I'm rock solid at the back, but we can't cry, it's a situation that happens in football, and we'll see how we go forward without them.”

Ahead of their Tanzania game at Suez Canal Authority Stadium in Ismailia, Mdaka said: "The team is fine, honestly, the mood is still the same and the commitment during training, and you can see we're hungry for what we did not do well in the previous game – just to score goals. Other than that, the boys are fine and ready.”

After the first round of matches, South Africa are sitting last in their group with zero points while Egypt are on top with three, Zambia second with one, Sierra Leone third with one while Tanzania are fourth without a point, as they are yet to play a game.