Khumalo proud of Amajimbos after draw with Colombia

South African Under-17 team coach Veli Khumalo is proud of his players despite them letting a two-goal lead slip and drawing 2-2 with Colombia in their first international friendly match at Estadio Francisco Rivera Escobar in Palmira on Monday.

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Amajimbos went into the break in the lead after Steven Mendes opened the scoring with a stunning shot from a wide angle in the 33rd minute.

Sivuziwe Lonzi then doubled the lead for South Africa in the 57th minute, but Colombia managed to get back into the match with goals from Nick Mendez and Edmilson Herazo in the 79th and 90th minute respectively..

“First and foremost I must say I’m proud of these boys. The shift they put in, was OK. I think leading two-zero and doing so well, amazing, keeping the possession, they ticked all the boxes in terms of the tactical agreement that we had. It’s only the two goals we conceded, which were giveaways,” said Khumalo in a short video posted by Safa media after the game.

Khumalo added that Herazo’s equaliser for Colombia should not have stood because Amajimbos goalkeeper was fouled before it was scored.

“The second goal, I think was a home advantage (goal) because the goalkeeper was impeded there, but we’ll take it as a learning curve for the boys. But we did well, we dominated the game and we had chances. I’m proud of these boys they played very well and they stick to how we want to play and how the country wishes to see which direction the ball wants to go.

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“It was looking perfect, it was looking good. It’s only the last five minutes where we lost the game, in fact not necessarily lost it, but conceding those two goals. We didn’t want to concede the goals, but it’s one of those things. Elementary mistakes from our goalkeeper, but we take the draw and go,” commented Khumalo.

The sides are set to meet again in the second international friendly on Wednesday.