Senong says finalists Amajita have grown in COSAFA U20

South Africa coach Thabo Senong has said that his side have benefited greatly from the experience of playing at the Cosafa Under-20 Championship in Zambia‚ whether they win or lose Saturday’s final against Lesotho in Kitwe.

Senong has been tasked with developing a team that will compete for honours at the next African Youth Championships in 2019‚ and possibly form a big part of the Under-23 side that will attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.

Successive victories over a strong Egyptian side‚ 2-1 in their final pool match on Monday and 1-0 in the semifinals on Thursday‚ have secured a place in the decider and‚ Senong said‚ provides further education for his young team.

“We showed character‚ strong hearts and were in the right frame of mind‚” Senong said of the semifinal win that was achieved without leading forward Lyle Foster from Orlando Pirates‚ who pulled out with injury in the warmups.

“Our structure was very good‚ in our defending and attacking‚ and we now need to go back and fix a few things to be ready for the final.

“When we came to Zambia we said we will learn and develop our boys‚ and we won’t worry too much about what is going on off the field‚ we must rather focus on the performance of the players so they can grow and learn.”

Senong said his side have improved through the competition after earlier wins over Mauritius (2-0) and Mozambique (1-0).

“We have played four games so far and our team is gradually becoming better and better. The final will be a different match‚ we just need to improve ourselves‚” he said.

“At the end of the day the people who benefit are the players because they are learning a lot‚ they are playing against good teams in tough conditions with a limited period of recovery.”

Senong‚ who also acts as assistant-coach at the senor national team under Stuart Baxter‚ says the bigger picture for not only the team‚ but himself as well‚ is the experience gained of playing in an international competition.

“For us it is to try and become better as a football nation and my priority is youth development. We will always give feedback to our ABC Motsepe League‚ MDC (MultiChoice Diski Challenge) and youth coaches at all the academies in our workshops and refreshers.

“We pass on the trends of football in Cosafa‚ in Africa and junior football.

“It is important‚ working with all national coaches‚ Molefi Ntseki with the Under-17s and Stuart Baxter with the senior team‚ that we give each other feedback and update each other so that we know what’s going on to nurture this talent and accelerate it to the next level.”

Senong is unsure whether Foster will be ready for Saturday's final‚ but he will have captain Thendo Mukumela and number one goalkeeper Khulekani Khubeka back from suspension.

He says he has great faith in all 20 players in the squad and that whoever features will not disappoint.

“We don’t play as individuals‚ our team is made of steel and players who are trying to serve the team. We know the squad is balanced – everybody who is given a chance will always be ready to deliver.

“We understand our game model‚ when we defend and when we attack. It is easy when we prioritise the team. We will assess the team in training to identify the right 11 for the final.”

South Africa have won the regional championship on five previous occasions‚ the last under Shakes Mashaba in 2013. They were beaten 2-1 by Zambia in the final 12 months ago.