The South African U15 Boys National Team registered an impressive 8-0 victory over The Maldives in their opening match of the inaugural FIFA U15 Boys World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday.

Tshiamo Mashishi grabbed a brace as Head Coach Selekedi Mogale’s irrepressible charges found the back of the net with seven different names on the goalscorers’ sheet.

“We completed our objectives, we didn’t want the game to tax us too much. We scored goals, different types of goals, which was good especially with us having different scorers. It means we can get goals from anywhere,” said an excited Mogale.

“I think the lessons learned ahead of the next two matches is the counter-press, our rest defence, as well as pressurizing the ball in order to press it and win it. We didn’t do well in the defensive transitions, so hopefully in the next game we can get our structure right, knowing when to pressurize the ball, when to win it and not to draw back too deep because it’s a small pitch.”

The South Africans are next in action on Sunday when they take on Kosovo (10h45 SA Time) and Anguilla (17h30 SA Time).

The FIFA U15 Boys World Cup and Festival is the initiative of the world football governing body whose sole aim is to get the youth to compete at the global stage at an early age, right at the start of their football careers.