Amato misses top-flight football but enjoys regular game time in NFD

Amato was voted as the National First Division (NFD) young player of the season for 2026/2027, and yet games at that level rarely get any broadcast attention, and this affects emerging talent like Amato.  

However, the silver lining for the 20-year-old, as compared to most of his counterparts in the big league, is that he’s getting regular action...

"I love playing football so playing week in and week out is always fun, but the NFD is a tough league. I do miss playing in the higher league, but I am where I am and I just have to keep on plugging away for Cape Town City."

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Amato missed out on the U20 AFCON tournament and also the FIFA U20 World Cup last year, owing to reasons of non-availability and selection, and he says that was a difficult episode, but he’s since learnt to accept it.

The demanding and tough conditions in the NFD has also seen Amato developing the physical conditioning side of his game, and this helps him a lot, especially with the duels. 

"My game has improved in the physical aspect especially because the NFD is a very physical league and there's not too much pretty football especially away from home. I'm also starting to get more goals and assists into my game."

The South African junior national teams have come a long way from the days of struggling to qualify for major competitions, and not being adequately prepared for tournaments, to now being the total opposite as one of the teams to watch on the continent.