Mdaka details Zambia talks that cleared Nalumango’s SA switch

Nalumango, a player born in South Africa but to Zambian parents, has a South African grandmother, who was born in Kimberley. The 19-year-old defender, who joined the Pirates’ DDC team just recently and was born in Johannesburg, played for the Zambian national U17 and U20 teams using his SA passport. Mdaka says they have handled everything professionally, including clearing all the matters with their Zambian Football Association (FAZ) counterparts.

"The boy has been here for some time. It's just that he has played for Zambia. He has been with most of the boys that are here.But what we did, so that we are not caught on the wrong side, immediately the boy came and showed an interest and the parents showed an interest, we decided to go professionally," said Mdaka

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"So we went to the office to indicate that there is this situation, there is this boy, we want to do this. And we engaged with FIFA, they told us the processes, we followed the processes, they engaged with Zambia until at long last they were able to allow us and at least the boy to be able to play for South Africa."

The new Amajita squad is also having some interesting features, with Mdaka seemingly also having considered the earlier and physical strength of the team. Lessons from last year’s AFCON seem to have played a role here, as Mdaka explains the selection policy for this latest Amajita team, heading to the COSAFA U20 Championships tomorrow.

One of the technical visions of the SAFA Technical Director, Molefi Ntseki, is to see continuity within the national teams, and that is something that the newly appointed Bafana Bafana head coach, Pitso Mosimane, is embracing. Mdaka says he’s already met Mosimane, and they are aligning along those lines.

Amajita depart for Mozambique tomorrow, and they play their opening game against Lesotho on Saturday, then face Angola two days later and finish their Group B with a clash against Eswatini on the 23rd. They must finish on top of their group to be guaranteed a semifinal spot and reach the final to qualify for the AFCON, where they are also defending champions. Mdaka looks to the challenge ahead of defending their regional and continental titles.