Amajita forward Itumeleng Shopane says he is looking forward to making a huge impact at the 2017 Fifa U20 World Cup in South Korea.

The South African U20 Men’s National Team are set to depart for Europe tonight to continue with preparations for the 2017 Fifa U20 World Cup in South Korea.

Amajita recently also secured a comfortable 4-0 victory over the University of Johannesburg in a practice match at the AW Muller Stadium, courtesy of a brace by Keletso Makgalwa and goals by Itumeleng Shopane and Kobamelo Kodisang.

The Burger-King sponsored side will now play three practice matches in Amsterdam against Feyenoord, Ajax Amsterdam and PEC Zwolle.

The 19-year-old forward says he is looking forward to making his mark at the 2017 Fifa U20 World Cup, but admits that the team’s success comes first.

‘We are on our toes on a daily basis. Each and every one of us wants to book a place in the squad going to the World Cup, but we know that, unfortunately, not all will get a spot in the team,’ Shopane said.

‘We have become a big crazy family over the years and it will be hard for the coaches to make the required selections, but as players, we have to raise our hands and give the technical team a healthy headache when they sit down and make their final decision.’

Shopane says he expects a physical battle against their three upcoming opponents, and says he is looking forward to the trip to the Netherlands

‘We have been in camp for a whole week now and we are looking sharp. I am also glad we managed to come back from the defeat against Orlando Pirates in the practice match we played on Sunday to defeat UJ convincingly last night – this shows we are working hard and improving with every training session,’ he added.

‘The victory was a huge morale booster ahead of our trip to the Netherlands, which we are looking forward to. We know we will learn a lot from the practice matches we will play there, and use all that experience in the World Cup.

‘It will be interesting to see how we fare with those players in Europe in terms of their technical and tactical style of play, as well as the physical battles expected in the games.’

The matches are scheduled for 29 April, 30 April and 2 May respectively.

Image: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix