JOHANNESBURG - Luvhengo’s charges are  in Congo-Brazzaville for their first-leg qualifier for next year’s Africa Youth Championships to be hosted by Algeria.

“We cannot afford to lose,”  Luvhengo said. “My aim is to make sure we get the points here.”

An away goal is something  many coaches aim for  playing an away match, especially in qualifying.

You would assume a point would be Luvhengo’s chief objective in this afternoon’s tie which starts at 3.30pm (4.30pm South African time) in Brazzaville.

But that is not the case.

“You really cannot hope for that rule to work for you because it can also work against you,” Luvhengo said.

“I really do not buy into that away goal rule idea because it promotes defending rather than attack.”

The return leg takes place in Bloemfontein in two weeks’ time and   Luvhengo is hoping for his side to go in with an advantage gained today.
“We cannot afford to play under pressure at home,” he said. “That would give the advantage to our opponents as we will be on the back foot.

“So the boys really need to come to the party today and make things happen by scoring goals.”

Amajita are not short of motivation and recently held their own against world’s best  in an eight-nations youth tournament.

Not only did they manage  to finish third in Cape Town, but they also gave spirited displays which made them look like a potent force in the continent’s football.
In the group stages, Amajita lost 3-1  to Argentina  before  beating Ghana 2-0 and  Nigeria 1-0 to proceed to the semis where they lost 4-3 to Brazil  on penalties having played to a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
Japan met them in the third-place play-off  which Luvhengo’s men won on penalties.
Thabani Mthembu, who was top goalscorer in the tournament, is also in the Congo and will be the man Luvhengo is pinning his hopes on for goals.