Amajita striker Thabang Mahlangu has urged his teammates to step up and ensure they seal a place in the U-20 Fifa World Cup quarterfinal when they face Colombia in the last 16 at Estadio Fiscal de Talca on Wednesday at 9:30pm.
Raymond Mdaka’s side defeated group favourites USA 2-1 in a pulsating last Group E match at Estadio El Teniente in Rancagua, Chile, on Sunday to book a place in the last 16 and are motivated heading into the knockout stage.
SA finished second in Group C with six points from three matches, setting up a tricky last-16 clash with Colombia, who topped Group F with five points.
If they win, Amajita will face the victors of Ukraine or Spain in the quarterfinals. Mahlangu is optimistic they will go far in this tournament, but they must not underestimate Colombia.
“I think we will go further in this tournament. We've to stick to our principles, listen to the coaches and do what we do best. It is important to score goals in the tournament,” Mahlangu said.
“So, we've been working on scoring goals and defending well. We will take it one game at a time and not underestimate our opponent. The round of 16 has the best teams in the tournament.
I think we will go further in this tournament. We've to stick to our principles, listen to the coaches and do what we do best. It is important to score goals in the tournament
— Amajita striker Thabang Mahlangu
“We've [got] to step up a bit, but I don't think we will have a problem. We'll do our homework and keep on pushing.”
Mahlangu also revealed what has been key for them to reach this stage of the competition.
“SA has quality; I think everyone in the world knows that we have quality players and to have a player such as Gomolemo [Kekana] giving such a good performance against the US, you can see that he is from [Mamelodi] Sundowns,” he said.
“Other players also were superb in our previous match and even when we come in from the bench, we make a difference.”
Meanwhile, defender Thato Sibiya said they have to approach this encounter with the same mentality they displayed in the group stages.
“We need to keep our heads high in every situation, like we did against the US. We were 0-1 down and we came back. We are capable of doing it and we can do it again.”
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