The South Africa U-20 team beat ABC Motsepe League Gauteng champions Maccabi F.C 1-0 in a practice match at Balfour Park, Johannesburg on Monday. A second half goal by Luther Singh was enough to give Amajita victory as they continue with preparations for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Thabo Senong’s charges depart for Korea Republic on Wednesday where they will play an international friendly against Costa Rica on Monday, 15 May. “We are traveling this week to ensure that the players have adequate time to acclimatise before the tournament starts. Due to the huge time difference [seven hours] the players will need as much time as possible to do so as failure to deal with this could be detrimental to the team’s performance,” said Senong.

“So we want to prepare them properly, lay a good foundation for them to do well and not take shortcuts. I am also glad our preparations are going according to plan and that is very pleasing.” South Africa is in Group D of the World Cup alongside Japan, Uruguay and Italy. Amajita will be based in Suwon for the first two matches, while the third and final group stage clash will be played in Incheon. Amajita kick off their World Cup campaign against Japan on Sunday, 21 May.