SA u15 coach: “It was a good test of character for our boys”
The U15 Three Nations Tournament is well and truly underway in the city of Rabat in Morocco, where three of Africa’s biggest footballing countries – South Africa, Morocco and Ivory Coast – are going toe-to-toe for bragging rights in the five-day-long tournament.
To kick start the tournament, South Africa locked horns with Ivory Coast at the Mohammed VI Football Complex on Tuesday, with the Ivorians claiming a 4-2 victory.
Despite the defeat, the South African u15 coach, Vela Khumalo, said his focus is on the overall vision behind the tournament, which aims to improve and develop African football to help the continent become a bigger player on the world stage, with the next edition of the FIFA U17 World Cup taking centre stage in 2025.
As a result, the Confederation of African Football, headed up by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, has worked with the three participating countries’ governing bodies to bring together the most exciting u15 talent from the north, south and west of Africa. The goal is to nurture the young talent so that they are prepared to take on the best in the world in the u17 age group.
Despite Tuesday’s defeat, coach Khumalo reiterated that his players had gained experience, and that experience would come in handy in the future, be it in the national colours or locally in the Gauteng Development League.
Although his team went down, Khumalo said there were plenty of positives to take out of the contest.
“Remember this is the initiative that we want to see Africans develop more and get to the u17 level ready and exposed to these kinds of tournaments. This will give more minutes, more caps to our players. It will not be a new thing altogether,” he added.
South Africa has sent 29 players to Morocco, but coach Khumalo reckons it is not only the players that will benefit from the experience of being involved in the international football space.
The coach believes the entire coaching staff will return home having gained valuable experience that will be of great benefit to South African football.
“It is helping the technical team to identify the challenges that we are having in the build-up,” Khumalo explained.
“For our technical staff also, it’s experience gathered, and experience that will be used in the future,” he concluded.
The tournament runs until Sunday, 17 December.
SA U15 Touring Squad
| # | NAME | SURNAME | TEAM |
| 1. | Ronin | BLACKWELL | Panorama FC |
| 2. | Keabetswe | MORAKE | Kaizer Chiefs |
| 3. | Christiano | VON MUELEN | School of Excellence |
| 4. | Sive | PAMA | Cape Town City |
| 5. | Ncebo | MTOLO | Magic FC |
| 6. | Lucca | LAZARUS | Supersport United |
| 7. | Tswelelo | MAAKI | Supersport United |
| 8. | Tiago | KAHN | Panorama FC |
| 9. | Luke | HENDRIKS | Ubuntu FC |
| 10. | Lebogang | MSWANE | School of Excellence |
| 11. | Anovuyo | MQOQI | Cape Town City |
| 12. | Royce | MALATJI | Kaizer Chiefs |
| 13. | Kabelo | SIBANDE | Mamelodi Sundowns |
| 14. | Thurston | PHILLIPS | Cape Town Spurs |
| 15. | Selwyn | STEVENS | Cape Town Spurs |
| 16. | Kgaogelo | MONANYANE | Mamelodi Sundowns |
| 17. | Emile | WITBOOI | School of Excellence |
| 18. | Ishaam | TILLING | Ubuntu FC |
| 19. | Simphiwe | MLONDO | School of Excellence |
| 20. | Neo | BOHLOKO | Kaizer Chiefs |
| 21. | Adriano | ADAMS | Cape Town Spurs |
| 22. | Lesego | HLOPHE | Kaizer Chiefs |
| 23. | Bokamoso | MOKOKOSI | Kaizer Chiefs |
| 24. | Steven | MENDEZ | Kaizer Chiefs |
| 25. | Uyathanda | SBOTHOBOTHO | Cosmos FC |
| 26. | Boyzy | NGIDI | Amazulu |
| 27. | Luyanda | BIYELA | Amazulu |
| 28. | Diego | DA SILVA | University of Pretoria |
| 29. | Liam | MOKGOSINYANE | TS Galaxy |
