Boys U-15 National Team Coaches speak ahead of Opening Day
The CAF African Schools Football Championship officially gets underway on Wednesday, 23 April with a total of eight (8) national teams in both the Boys and Girls U-15 age categories taking each other on for continental honours.
Ahead of the much-anticipated kick-off, all teams attended a press conference to preview their chances in the four-day competition.
The CAF African Schools Football Championship Ghana 2025 will take place at the University of Ghana between 23 – 26 April, with matches broadcast live on CAF’s Official YouTube channel, CAF TV.
This is what the Boys U-15 national team coaches had to say ahead of the opening matches:
Boniface Pawassa – Tanzania Coach (Defending Champions)
“We understand that the pressure is on us as the defending champions and as a team, we accept the challenge. We worked hard last season to clinch this title and this year will be no different as this is a team that is just as hungry to lift the title”
Zungu Hassan – Uganda Coach
This is a big stage for our team. It is first of all an honour to be here and with that said, we aim at proving that we deserve to be at this stage of the competition and competing against the best teams from across Africa”
Selekedi Mogale – South Africa Coach
“For us it is an opportunity to create history, which gives us a title of being underdogs which is very nice. So its our chance to build, learn and rebuild. So we are quite excited not only for the chance to challenge for the trophy but to display our identity, display our progress and who we are and assert ourselves, not just for South Africa, but for COSAFA”
Mohammed El Mahdi Behadid – Algeria Coach
“We understand what is at stake but we are also excited about affording our young players such an exciting opportunity to express themselves. This is a great opportunity for us to test ourselves and measure our progress against the best teams on the continent”
Ousmane Diop – Senegal Coach
“The continent knows and respects Senegal as one of the strong football nations in Africa. We obviously want to sustain this image even at this level but it is equally important for us to understand that this is an opportunity for us to learn and assess our growth. The emphasise is on doing well as a nation and ensuring that the talent pipeline continues for Senegal”.
Amien Desire – Cote d’Ivoire Coach
“We have an important task ahead of us of representing a football nation like Cote d’Ivoire. The boys know and understand what it means to wear a Cote d’Ivoire national team jersey and the pride that they need to carry themselves with. It will not be an easy tournament of course, but we believe we can do well in representing our nation”.
Kwaku Danso – Ghana Coach
“Well we saw the draw and know who and what we are up against. We are the hosts of the tournament and that naturally comes with the pressure to perform. We want to do well but at the same time, what is key for us is to ensure that we create an environment for our boys to express themselves freely and get a feel of what it is like to represent the national team at an important tournament such as this one”