Amajimbos have bowed out of the CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] tournament after a 5-0 defeat to Senegal in a quarterfinal clash at Nelson Mandela Stadium on Wednesday evening.
As a result, South Africa’s U17 men’s national team have failed to qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup. The tournament will be held from 10 November to 2 December 2023. The host nation is yet to be confirmed.
Duncan Crowie’s charges progressed to the AFCON quarterfinals following Burkina Faso’s 2-1 win over Cameroon on Sunday, 7 May 2023. Amajimbos advanced to the last eight as one of the two best third-placed.
The game started off at a slow pace as both sides were still trying to find each other’s game plan.
But, Crowie’s side was tested to the maximum against the Senegalese side.
As the first period wore on, Amajimbos began to be cautious of the West Africans’ approach.
However, Senegal took command of the game and broke the deadlock through Waylon Renecke’s own goal in the 36th minute of the showdown.
Things went from bad to worse, as Senegal added to the scoreline just two minutes after the restart, another own goal by Amajimbos captain Benjamin Wallis.
In the 44th minute, Mamadou Sadio netted a third goal for Senegal to make things difficult for South Africa.
SENEGAL LEADING AT THE HALF-TIME
The game went into the interval with Senegal leading South Africa by a 3-0 scoreline.
In the second stanza, South Africa thought they would pull up their socks with the hopes of bouncing back into the game, but that was never meant to be.
Instead, the SA U17s kept getting further away from their goals in the second half.
Crowie’s charges tried to take a strong foothold but failed to break through the Senegalese’s resilient defence.
Amara Diouf made sure that he put the last nail to the coffin when he scored the fourth goal for Senegal in the 55th minute.
Diouf completed his brace when he netted the fifth goal for his side to end South Africa’s hopes of progressing in the competition.
ENDED IN TEARS FOR DUNCAN CROWIE AND SA U17s
The final whistle blew with Senegal smiling to the tournament’s semifinals. As a result, the defeat ended Amajimbos’ dreams to qualify for the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup.
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