SA U17 head coach Duncan Crowie’s plan

SA U17 head coach Duncan Crowie has revealed how they plan to lift Amajimbos’ spirits following their 2-0 defeat to Morocco in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] U17 tournament Group B opener. 

The game took place at Stade Mohamed-Hamlaoui Stadium in Algeria on Sunday night. 

Goals from Ait Boudlal and Adam Hanin were enough for the North African side to walk away victorious with all valuable three points. 

HOW DUNCAN CROWIE PLANS TO MOTIVATE THE BOYS 

“It is important for us to tell them that they need a lot of positives in the game. And also, we need to show them the positives from this game,” said Crowie in a post-match press conference. 

“There are some things we need to improve on. I don’t think it’s a technical thing but more of composure in the final third. We need to get more touches and passes until we get to that final third.

“If it was not for those two things, we had the upper hand and with better control in the final third. We could have created more opportunities.”

DUNCAN CROWIE REVEALS WHAT WENT WRONG 

The coach said that his troops had the upper hand and many things worked for them in the game, but it was never meant to be. 

“As you could see, they played on the counter, and they played on the long ball. And two mistakes led to their goals,” he added. 

“It’s not a case of what did not work. A lot of things worked for us. We had the upper hand and more ball possession. We had a territorial advantage as well. But unfortunately, in the final third, we came unstuck because they had numbers behind the ball. 

“Congratulations to Morocco. They are a very disciplined and organised team defensively. I don’t think many teams that  we will come up against will be well organised defensively like Morocco.” 

Amajimbos’ next assignment will be against neighbours Zambia on Wednesday, 3 May 2023. 

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