Amajita coach Thabo Senong rued his side’s lack of concentration after halftime of the 4-3 loss to Senegal at the Under-20 African Nations Cup. Amajita led 2-0 at halftime on Thursday, but by midway through the second period found themselves 4-2 down after poor defending allowed the Senegalese to take control of the game. “It was a good match, we defending badly, especially just after the break,” Senong said. “We encouraged the boys to concentrate on the game and not lose focus. “But we started to play too deep, we lost the ball in dangerous areas. We were under pressure and a lot of our players made mistakes, especially in the defence.”

South Africa must now beat Sudan in their final Group B game on Sunday to book a semifinal place, and in doing so book a spot at the 2017 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in South Korea, though a draw could also be enough. “We have to pick ourselves up and make sure we look forward to the next match. Maybe the lesson happened at the right time, we must make sure we play better against Sudan. “Sometimes these young boys make mistakes. After [opening] match against Cameroon [3-1] we spoke about inconsistency. But I still say it happened at the right time, it will help us to focus more and behave better in the last match. “Sudan is a very strong team, they will not be easy to beat, but we just have to prepare well and go all out for the three points.”