Owen da Gama remains confident his South African side can progress to the knockout stages of the Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations and keep their Olympic dreams alive despite a deflating 3-1 loss to hosts Senegal in their Group A opener on Saturday.
Defensive naivety cost SA vital points and they now might have to win both their remaining pool matches against Zambia tomorrow (5pm) and impressive north Africans Tunisia on Friday.
There was some edge to the South African attack, thanks in particular to highly impressive teenager Phakamani Mahlambi, but defensively they looked frail against the pace and power of Senegal.
"I don't want to make excuses but we didn't play to our best at all," Da Gama said. "We will keep on working to leave our mark here. We created the first chances of this match but we couldn't convert them."
Da Gama said the defeat would have served as a learning curve for his side ahead of the challenges to come.
"I'm really proud of our performance despite the defeat because most our players are young.
"Our main striker [Mahlambi] was playing very deep but he's only 18 years old and he's a new sensation in South Africa. We can still qualify from the group."
Senegal coach Serigne Saliou Dia praised SA for taking the game to his side and was more relieved than anything else to start a campaign the All-Africa Games champions are expected to excel in, with a win.
"It was not easy for us because South Africa played well and they created good chances, but we managed to defend well," Dia said.
"It was important that we started with a win as host."
He then suggested Da Gama's side were a little one-dimensional, without the ability to change things up in the second period.
"Coming into the game, we knew little about the SA team but as the match went on, we knew how to play them," he revealed.
South Africa's next opponents, Zambia, lost 2-1 to Tunisia in a hard-fought game that showed there will be no let-up in the quality of the opposition for Da Gama.
SA need to finish in the top three to reach the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next August.
Da Gama has to fix U23 defence
Owen da Gama remains confident his South African side can progress to the knockout stages of the Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations and keep their Olympic dreams alive despite a deflating 3-1 loss to hosts Senegal in their Group A opener on Saturday.
Defensive naivety cost SA vital points and they now might have to win both their remaining pool matches against Zambia tomorrow (5pm) and impressive north Africans Tunisia on Friday.
There was some edge to the South African attack, thanks in particular to highly impressive teenager Phakamani Mahlambi, but defensively they looked frail against the pace and power of Senegal.
"I don't want to make excuses but we didn't play to our best at all," Da Gama said. "We will keep on working to leave our mark here. We created the first chances of this match but we couldn't convert them."
Da Gama said the defeat would have served as a learning curve for his side ahead of the challenges to come.
"I'm really proud of our performance despite the defeat because most our players are young.
"Our main striker [Mahlambi] was playing very deep but he's only 18 years old and he's a new sensation in South Africa. We can still qualify from the group."
Senegal coach Serigne Saliou Dia praised SA for taking the game to his side and was more relieved than anything else to start a campaign the All-Africa Games champions are expected to excel in, with a win.
"It was not easy for us because South Africa played well and they created good chances, but we managed to defend well," Dia said.
"It was important that we started with a win as host."
He then suggested Da Gama's side were a little one-dimensional, without the ability to change things up in the second period.
"Coming into the game, we knew little about the SA team but as the match went on, we knew how to play them," he revealed.
South Africa's next opponents, Zambia, lost 2-1 to Tunisia in a hard-fought game that showed there will be no let-up in the quality of the opposition for Da Gama.
SA need to finish in the top three to reach the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next August.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos