SOUTH Africa’s Under-20s are returning home from South Korea far too soon.
They will be boarding their flight on Sunday afternoon after their final group match of the Fifa U-20 World Cup against Uruguay at Incheon Football Stadium on Saturday (1pm SA time.)
Thabo Senong’s charges have failed to make it past the first round after losing their first two matches. Their biggest downfall was a lack of killer instinct or adequate punch in attack.
Having lost their opening game 2-1 to Japan at the weekend, Amajita were beaten 2-0 by Italy yesterday. With only one more group match left against the South American champions, they have no chance of progressing.
Amajita were unlucky yesterday, conceding a soft penalty in the 23rd minute, but coach Senong has no complaints. He believes his charges will have benefited immensely from the experience and learnt some valuable lessons.
He said: “We respect the referee’s decision – we are only focused on our job. We did create chances for our attackers, it’s just that sometimes things don’t work out.
“We will work on things in training to give the boys confidence for the next match. We are working with youngsters – they are here to learn. The best way to learn is to play against the best in the world. This was the best platform for them to learn.”
Judging from the last two games, the chances of the South Africans beating the South American champions are very slim.
However, Senong still has hopes of finishing third if they should be victorious against Uruguay.
Explained the coach: “It was tough against Italy. It was a good game but we are disappointed by the result. We wanted to play a quick passing game but we were slow.
“We are still in the tournament and our focus is on Uruguay now. We will see what happens then.”
Uruguay have already qualified for the next round of competition after winning their first two matches, defeating Italy 1-0 and Japan 2-0 respectively.
