Steenbok believes Amajita have given SA a bright future despite Safa’s ineptitude

The success of Amajita this year has come as no surprise to the man who helped the South African Football Association (Safa) revive the youth national teams who have been struggling to make an impact in recent years.

Walter Steenbok, who stood down as Safa’s technical director in February, says Amajita’s qualification for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup last 16 for the first time since 2009 is a culmination of some good work he did alongside other youth coaches when he was at Safa.

Amajita finished second in Group E after beating a strong US in Rancagua, Chile, on Sunday and will now battle for a quarterfinal berth against Colombia at Estadio Fiscal in Talca on Wednesday (9.30pm SA time).

Steenbok, the respected former Kaizer Chief head scout, said Amajita stand a good chance of writing history by becoming the first South African U-20 side to reach the World Cup quarters. Coach Raymond Mdaka’s team made history becoming the first side from this country to win the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in May.

“What could be a big factor is the conditions. Colombia will adapt better and that we had to travel [from Rancagua, where South Africa played all three group games, 170km south to Talca] because we finished second might be a factor. But our team has a lot of tools it can use. We have the right combinations, the right speed and a much-matured team that can play with and without the ball.

“We have to manage certain moments of the game a bit better. If we don’t concede in the first 15 minutes, we’ll get to play our game as the match progresses.”

Steenbok said the success of Mdaka and his technical team stems from the build-up to the World Cup, including winning the U-20 Afcon in Egypt.

When Steenbok arrived at Safa the junior national teams had fallen into neglect, were barely playing and lacked permanent coaches. One of his tasks was to ensure Safa had national U-17 and U-20 coaches.

Steenbok is happy for Mdaka, who many knew little about before he won the U-20 Afcon.

“It’s not only Raymond. I’ve known Raymond for the last 25 years as a coach educator and someone who also coached in the old National First Division [NFD] and now is also part of Marumo Gallants. But I’m happy for the whole technical team, which I put together.

“[Assistant coach] Karabo Mogodi becomes the first coach [to be part of a junior national setup] from Ussa [University Sports South Africa]. I put him there precisely because he’s from an U-21 sort of category in varsity football.

“We set up a meeting where I could talk to all of them and set up the programme when the team went to have their first camp where we had 60 players.

“It’s been intriguing that with minimum resources and little support [from Safa], it shows that when the technical structures are in place we can achieve a lot because South Africa has talent.”

The biggest concern pertaining to the future of South African football is the ineptitude with which Safa governs the sport in the country. Steenbok believes football can win against those odds — as with Amajita and also the South Africa U-17s, who have also reached their World Cup; and Bafana Bafana, who are on the verge of qualifying for the senior 2026 World Cup.

“The positive thing for me is I believe the system always finds a way to cleanse itself and get rid of little pockets of people doing things that are not good.

There are many coaches coming through wanting to follow people like Pitso Mosimane, Fadlu Davids and Rulani Mokwena. We have people like [SA U-17 coach] Vela Khumalo, Mdaka, Mark Mayambela  and Thabo Mngomeni

—  Walter Steenbok

“There are two things that can really make us not worried. One is the coaching capacity in South Africa. I can safely say Safa’s coaching education has produced enough coaches at all levels. We’re number one in Africa.

“There’s a crop of about 60 coaches, and I’m one of them, who did the Safa Pro Licence, which is the highest coaching diploma. So South Africa has a bright pool of young coaches who are really talented at all levels.

“There are many coaches coming through wanting to follow people like Pitso Mosimane, Fadlu Davids and Rulani Mokwena. We have people like [SA U-17 coach] Vela Khumalo, Mdaka, Mark Mayambela and Thabo Mngomeni.

“The second part is, if we organise our talent identification a bit better we’ll be fine because we have the players. There’s really a good crop of players and even the women’s game has done so well. Those are the things where, amid all the challenges we’re facing, we can still be confident we have the capacity of the coaches who come from vigorous training and we have the playing talent.”

Steenbok said he’s not lost to South African football and will continue to contribute to its future whether through Safa or otherwise.

“I’m involved with my own projects. I do consultation work for some of the NFD and PSL clubs in terms of performance analysis and consultation. But I also work with Caf as a consultant and do my TV work. I’ve got my national identification workshop and I’m trying to train at least 400 to 500 talent scouts across South Africa. I’m also doing post-doctoral after my PhD at Tshwane University of Technology.”