Amajita arrive in South Korea for World Cup!

Luther Singh goes through his paces at the first Amajita practice in Suwon. Photo: @AmajitaU20 on Twitter

Luther Singh goes through his paces at the first Amajita practice in Suwon. Photo: @AmajitaU20 on Twitter

Published May 12, 2017

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The South African Under-20 team have arrived at their base camp in Suwon, Korea Republic ahead of the Fifa Under-20 World Cup. 

After almost 24 hours of travelling, the squad reached their destination on Thursday night (South Korea is seven hours ahead of South Africa). 

Amajita flew out of Johannesburg on Wednesday and were airborne for 12-and-a-half hours en route to Hong Kong. They then took another flight to Seoul, from where they travelled by road for an hour to Suwon.

South Africa have been drawn in Group D alongside Japan, Uruguay and Italy.

Amajita arrived in Suwon 10 days before the start of the tournament so that the players can quickly acclimatise to the conditions.

Dr Thulani Ngwenya, Chief Medical Officer of the South African Football Association (Safa), who is travelling with the team, has advised the players to take it easy and stay focused.

“The next four or five days will be a challenge for us, as the seven-hour time difference is very new to all the players. Based on past experience, we felt it best that the team travel early to Korea Republic so that the coaches will be able to get the best out of the players when the tournament gets under way next week,” said Dr Ngwenya.

SA Under-20 coach Thabo Senong in Suwon. Photo: @AmajitaU20 on Twitter

“We will be taking things easy for a few days, meals will be served a bit later than normal in line with local time, and the medical team will be paying extra attention to those affected by jet-lag or fatigue.”

Amajita open their World Cup with a clash against Japan on Sunday, May 21 at Suwon World Cup Stadium. Kickoff is at 10am SA time.

They will then take on Italy at the same venue on Wednesday, May 24 at 1pm SA time.

In the last group match, South Africa will face Uruguay on Saturday, May 27 in Incheon, also at 1pm SA time.

Safa Media

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