Helman Mkhalele To Lead Amajita At Cosafa Championships

Former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates star Helman Mkhalele will take charge of the South Africa side at the 2019 COSAFA Under-20 Championships set for Lusaka, Zambia from December 4-14.

Mkhalele, the “Midnight Express” replaces Thabo Senong who left the Amajita coaching job after being appointed as manager of the Lesotho national football team in August 2019.

Thabo Senong takes personal pride in been the first South African coach to have qualified for back-to-back FIFA U-20 World Cup tournaments.

Mkhalele who will be gunning for South Africa’s bid to claim a hat-trick of titles at the Championships will be ably assisted by former Kaizer Chiefs winger Arthur Zwane‚ with youth coach Shawn Bishop coming in as an analyst.

South Africa have been drawn in Group B at the competition in Zambia and open their campaign against Mauritius on December 5.

They will then face Madagascar three days later‚ before closing out their pool play against Lesotho on December 10.

The top team in each of the three pools advances to the semifinals along with the best-placed runner-up.

By Gerald Dandah