Cosafa Under-20 stars journey

Fungai Muderere

THE TotalEnergies Afcon U-20 Egypt 2023 Cosafa Qualifier will be staged in Eswatini from 7 to 16 October and will feature the best young talent from the region as they seek qualification for the continental finals.

The regional Under-20 championship has continued to churn out a steady stream of new stars for the senior national teams, as evidenced by the leading scorers from the past five editions, considering there was no tournament in 2021.

We look at where they are now.
2016
Luther Singh (South Africa) – 5 goals
Singh could not fire South Africa to the title in 2016 but has made good progress in his career and later starred with the Bafana Bafana squad at the senior Cosafa Cup.

At the time he was at Swedish second-tier side GAIS, but has since played extensively in the Portuguese league and had a brief spell in Denmark with FC Copenhagen.

He has had successful loan spells at top-flight sides Paços de Ferreira, Moreirense and Chaves, and this season is back with the latter for a second spell.

2017
Muhammad Shaban (Uganda) – 4 goals
Shaban is also now a full Uganda international and also had a spell at top Moroccan side Raja Casablanca in the 2018-19 season.

To be fair, he had already been named 2016 FIFA Footballer of the Year before his arrival at the Cosafa tournament for the guest nation, so it was perhaps no surprise that he excelled.

FIFA

He also played with Vipers in his homeland, but later campaigned for Onduparaka in the domestic league and is now at Kampala CC. He is still only 24.
2018

Lyle Foster (South Africa), Delic Murimba (Zimbabwe) – 5 goals
Foster is another star on the rise and currently plies his trade with Westerlo in the Belgian league, who he joined from Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal, having also played for French Ligue 1 Monaco.

The 22-year-old also spent a season on loan at Belgium club Cercle Brugge, and is now a fixture in the senior national team as part of a new generation coming through at Bafana Bafana.

Bafana Bafana

Murimba is perhaps surprisingly still in Zimbabwe having played at Triangle United and now Ngezi Platinum Stars, though he did have trials with top South African side Mamelodi Sundowns in 2019. He had also attracted interest from China.

2019
Ambrosini Salvador (Angola) – 6 goals
Viewed as the next wonderkid from the region, striker Salvador, who also goes by the name ‘Zini’, has recently signed for Greek giants AEK Athens on a season-long loan for 2022/23.

He made the switch after starring for Primeiro de Agosto, who had placed a US$5-million release clause in the contract of the then 18-year-old.

Now 20, he is a full Angola international and viewed as one of the top talents to emerge from Southern Africa in a number of years.

2020
Sinenjongo Mkiva (South Africa), Ambrosini Salvador (Angola) – 3 goals
Salvador was the joint top-scorer again in 2020, the last time the tournament was played, and managed three goals alongside South Africa’s Sinenjongo Mkiva.

The latter is currently at SuperSport United and although he has yet to make his first team debut, is making strong strides at the club and could be on the cusp of a first-team appearance.

He came through the academy at BidVest Wits before the club folded, playing with the likes of current PSL star Rowan Human.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *