Amajita respect all U20 World Cup teams, but aim to be champs – Autata

Ahead of the Amajita 2025 Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Chile, midfielder Patrick Autata says they are not going there as underdogs, and will not take anyone lightly.

Amajita will open their World Cup Group E campaign against France on Monday at Estadio El Teniente in Rancagua (10pm SA time) before they turn their attention to minnows New Caledonia on October 3 (1am) and the US on October 5 (10am). 

Speaking to the media before departing for Chile this week, Autata said the lessons they took from their junior Africa Cup of Nations success in May are not to underestimate anyone going into the World Cup.

“We've not really done any analyses on the opposition that we are going to face. We've been working a lot on technical aspects, such as shape and how we move on and off the ball.

"But the lesson I will say we learnt as a team from the Afcon going into the World Cup is, we should not underestimate anyone because the boys are hungry, the boys are looking for work,” Autata said.

“So, everyone is just going to be at 100% trying to showcase their talent and obviously, the scouts will be there and the boys are going to be very hungry. Names don't matter, whether the country is small or whatever, we are just going to treat the opponent the same way and treat the game the same way.”

Despite not having ideal preparations for the tournament, unlike their competitors, Autata said what would also be key for them was that they've been together for a while before the Afcon tournament. “Like the coach [Raymond Mdaka] said, 90% of us here have been here since the start of the U-20 camp from last year, so we've gelled , [and] we know one another,” he said.

“There's going to be a few new players that will come along the way, but most of us know what needs to be done. We know how to play, what to do on and off the ball, we are not fazed by any big name or so-called big country, but we also don't want to go there as underdogs.

"We set the bar for ourselves, and we are going there as [Afcon] champions and we want to leave there as the World Champions.”