SA Under-17 coach Duncan Crowie has urged his young charges not to look to the 2023 U17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) knockout stages just yet.
Instead, Crowie asked them to focus on the last match of the group stages against Nigeria where they will be looking for a win or at least a draw to book a place in the next round.
Amajimbos beat Zambia 3-2 on Wednesday, through a brace by Vicky Mkhawana and one from Michael Dokunmu, to get their campaign back on track, but they need a positive result against Nigeria to avoid early elimination.
SA is third in the group standings with three points after leaders Morocco (6 points) and second-placed Nigeria (3 points) who have a better goal difference.
Looking at the permutations, Crowie said a draw may be enough to see them go through to the next round as group runners up or as one of the two best finishers.
“I don’t think we can look to the knockout stages yet because this is a tough group and anything can happen,” said Cowie.
“I don’t want to be controversial, but Morocco are through already. They will probably play the second string team against Zambia.
“That will be in the favour of Zambia who will get to three points if they win that match, then Nigeria will need at least a point or a win against us and that means they [Nigeria] will play a strong team against us.
“That will probably be their tactics, but if we can get at least a draw it will be enough to put us through, either in second position or as one of the best third placed teams.
“A draw against Nigeria will be good enough for us, but I will look at other logs before I make a decision as far as that is concerned.”
Looking back at the win over Zambia, Crowie said they made it difficult for themselves.
“It was more than a fight, we were 2-0 up, they came back to make it difficult for us by putting us under pressure with the deep and long balls that put our defence under pressure.
“I mentioned to the guys it is important that we show we can play, but if they allow us to play then we must show we can fight as well. I say fight in a nice way, so they don’t create opportunities.
“With the pressure they put us under, they didn’t create clear-cut scoring opportunities, which is very good. I will make it clear to the players what they did right and what they [can] improve on as preparation for our next game against Nigeria.”
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