Mzansi U17 squad for Afcon announced
South African under-17 national team coach, Duncan Crowie, has revealed the final squad that will represent the country at the upcoming Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria.
The 21-man squad was announced during a press conference at SAFA House on Tuesday afternoon. The tournament will run from April 29 to May 19, 2023.
The team started training on April 9 at the SAFA National Technical Centre with 28 players before the coach selected the final squad on April 18. Crowie expressed his confidence in the team’s ability to perform well at the tournament.
“My primary job today is just to announce the final 21-man squad. When we met on Sunday we could see that commonality between the overseas-based players and the local-based players, and that gave me hope towards selecting this team,” Crowie said.
He added, “No one in the preparation camp was a bad player. Everyone was a talented player, but unfortunately we had to select only 21. This is not my party as the coach, but this is the party of the 21 players that are selected. It’s all about them and it is beyond the technical team. They are the ones who will represent the country. So far I am happy with the preparations and I hope that we can continue in the same vein towards the tournament.”
SAFA President, Dr Danny Jordaan, wished the team well and expressed his confidence in their abilities to compete at the tournament.
“We believe that this team can go all the way to the World Cup and join the team on the wall here at SAFA House, which was the last team to qualify for the World Cup. We want to wish the technical team all the best. African under-17 teams seem to dominate at the World Cup. So we know that by looking at the picture we know it will be a challenge, but the team will be up to the task,” Jordaan said.
The team is expected to depart for Algeria on April 21. The tournament will feature eight teams divided into two groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The winner and runner-up of the tournament will qualify for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru.
