Amajimbos coach finds comfort in Mandela’s words after heavy loss

South Africa’s Under-17 men’s team coach Duncan Crowie has found comfort in Nelson Mandela’s words after his team’s embarrassing loss to Senegal in the Caf Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

Amajimbos were thrashed 5-0 by the young Teranga Lions in the quarter-finals at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algeria on Wednesday.

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The humiliating loss ended the team’s hopes of qualifying for the Under-17 FIFA World Cup.

The South Africans were aiming for a spot at the global tournament by being one of the four teams that qualify for the semi-finals of the Afcon, but they came out short against a clinical Senegal side.

Amajimbos had a very bad start to the game, with defenders Waylon Renecke and Benjamin Wallis scoring an own goals.

“We came up against a very good team, we knew we were coming up against a good team. We knew exactly what was going to happen. They got really good wing players. Very dangerous on the crosses and that’s how they scored their goals. We knew all about it and we could not stop it and that is the disappointing part of it,” said Crowie after the match.

Crowie admits that it was disappointing to lose in the manner which they did.

“The important thing is the learning process and that’s what I said to the players. All of us are disappointed but like Nelson Mandela said, ‘he never loses, he either wins or learns’. The important part is to now sit back and not only for South Africa but for the individual players and well to say, this is what I could have done and this is what I will do next time in a similar situation.”

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The South African Under-17 team made it to the quarter-finals of the Afcon after finishing as one of the best third place finishers in Group B.

They only collected three points in the group after registering a victory against Zambia, but lost to Morocco and Nigeria.