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Egypt wrap-up preparations for U20 AFCON opener against South Africa
by FSL News

Egypt wrap-up preparations for U20 AFCON opener against South Africa

AFCON U20 hosts Egypt finished their preparations for their match against South Africa. The game will take place at 9 PM tomorrow, Sunday, at Cairo Stadium.

This match is the opening of the African Cup of Nations, which Egypt will host from April 27 to May 18. The tournament also serves as a World Cup qualifying event.

The final training session happened at Medina Stadium in Khalifa. During this time, the coach, Captain Osama Nabih, focused on specific strategies for the upcoming match. He urged his players to pay attention to the instructions and avoid distractions.

The players showed seriousness and dedication as they worked to earn a spot in the match lineup. Wadi Al-Harer’s special training was led by goalkeeping coach Captain Ayman Tahir. Captain Nabih also discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the South African team during a lecture before the last training session.

Performance analyst Ahmed Issam prepared a video report that highlighted South Africa’s strong organization and quick transitions from defense to attack.

Egypt’s national team is in the first group along with South Africa, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Tanzania. The top two teams from each of the three groups will move on to the quarter-finals. The best third-place team will also qualify, giving teams finishing in the top four the chance to reach the World Cup.

๐‡๐ž๐š๐ ๐‚๐จ๐š๐œ๐ก ๐Œ๐จ๐ก๐š๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐‹๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ง ๐Š๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐š: โ€œ๐–๐ž ๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐‡๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐Œ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐‡๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒโ€
by Football Sierra Leone

๐‡๐ž๐š๐ ๐‚๐จ๐š๐œ๐ก ๐Œ๐จ๐ก๐š๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐‹๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ง ๐Š๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐š: โ€œ๐–๐ž ๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐‡๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐Œ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐‡๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒโ€

Ahead of Sierra Leoneโ€™s opening match against Zambia at the 2025 U20 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Mohamed Lamin Kamara addressed the media at the Suez Canal Stadium.

Kamara acknowledged the tough competition in Group A but expressed pride in his teamโ€™s spirit and preparation. โ€œ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐”๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ ๐€๐…๐‚๐Ž๐ ๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐žโ€™๐ซ๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ญ๐ž, ๐›๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ,โ€

he said. The squad includes 26 playersโ€”17 homegrown and 9 based abroadโ€”whom Kamara described as the best talents Sierra Leone has to offer.

With eyes firmly set on World Cup qualification, Kamara emphasized that reaching the semifinals is the teamโ€™s main goal. โ€œ๐–๐ž ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐›๐ž ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ฒ, ๐›๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐žโ€™๐ซ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐œ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐œ๐ก,โ€ he added.

Speaking about opponents Zambia, Kamara praised their strength but insisted Sierra Leone is ready for the challenge. โ€œ๐–๐ž ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ข๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ, ๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ข๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ž๐š๐ค๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ. ๐–๐ž ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž.โ€

Team captain Momoh I. Kamara reinforced the teamโ€™s focus and fitness, promising a committed performance.

Coach Kamara also thanked the Egyptian Football Association for the excellent facilities and warm hospitality at the Suez Canal Stadium.

SLFA Media Department

South Africa U20 Amajita arrive in egypt ahead of U20 AFCON
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

South Africa’s Amajita arrive in Egypt ahead of U20 AFCON

The South African U-20 team has arrived in Cairo to participate in the African Cup, set to begin on Sunday in Cairo and Ismailia.

The delegation arrived at Cairo Airport on Thursday morning to compete in the Africa Cup of Under-20, which runs from Sunday until May 18.

Thirteen teams will compete for the title, with the top four qualifying for the World Cup scheduled to take place in Chile between September and October 2025.

Under the guidance of Coach Raymond Madaka, the team is in the first group, and their campaign begins with an opening match against Egypt at Cairo International Stadium on Sunday evening. They will also face Tanzania on April 30 at the Suez Canal Authority Stadium in Ismailia and Sierra Leone on May 6 at the new Suez Stadium. The group stage will conclude for Amajita with a match against Zambia on May 9 at the 30th of June Stadium in Air Defense.

The South African national team, known as “Amajita,” qualifies for the U-20 African Cup for the ninth time in its history. They secured their place by finishing the COSAFA regional qualifiers with three victories: defeating Malawi 5-0, Lesotho 6-0, and the Comoros Islands 2-0 in the group stage. They then advanced to the semi-finals, where they triumphed over Angola 1-0, and secured their spot in the final by outclassing Zambia 2-0.

Senegal set to defend U20 Cup of Nations title in Egypt
by Football Sierra Leone

Senegal set to defend U20 Cup of Nations title in Egypt

Senegal arrived at the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt 2025, as the defending champions and a team to beat. With a strong reputation for producing elite youth talent, the Lionceaux of Teranga aims to retain their title.

Under coach Serigne Saliou Dia, they blend tactical discipline with attacking flair in pursuit of back-to-back triumphs.

As reigning African U-20 champions, Senegal aims to defend their title at the tournament following their historic 2023 victory in Egypt. Their recent success is built on disciplined structures and a rich talent pipeline.

Senegal secured their place in the tournament by winning the WAFU Zone A Championship for the second consecutive time, defeating Sierra Leone 2-0 in the final.

Senegal, as the reigning champions after winning the 2023 title, had a flawless campaign, winning every match, including a 2-0 final against Gambia. They had previously reached the finals in 2015, 2017, and 2019, but fell short each time.

  • **GROUP ANALYSIS**ย ย 

Senegal is in Group C alongside DR Congo, Ghana, and the Central African Republic. Each of these teams poses a unique challenge, with DR Congo being particularly ambitious and Ghana showing consistent growth in youth football. The Central African Republic is a dark horse, known for their physical and direct style.

Nigeriaโ€™s Flying Eagles Beat Egypt Team in Cairo pre-U20 Afcon friendly
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Nigeriaโ€™s Flying Eagles Beat Egypt in Cairo Pre-U20 Afcon friendly

On Tuesday, Nigeria’s Flying Eagles defeated Egypt’s Young Pharaohs 2-1 in a pre-Cup of Nations friendly match held at the Cairo International Stadium. Goals from Kparobo Arierhi and Precious Benjamin ensured a strong victory for Nigeria’s U20 team in Cairo. (Photo Credit EFA)

Kparobo Arierhi scored Nigeriaโ€™s first goal in the 10th minute, after being assisted by Bidemi Amole. Egypt responded with a goal from Ahmed Kaabaka in the 65th minute. However, Nigeria took the lead again with a penalty goal from Precious Benjamin in the 83rd minute, after Divine Oliseh was fouled in the box.

This victory gives the Flying Eagles a confidence boost as they prepare to face Tunisia in their first match on Thursday. They will also compete against Morocco and Kenya in Group B.

Egypt, the host team in Group A, will play against South Africa on Sunday, followed by matches against Sierra Leone on April 30, Zambia on May 3, and Tanzania on May 9.