Senong keen to keep his players' feet on the ground after impressive Afcon triumph

South Africa Under-20 coach Thabo Senong said his aim after his team beat Cameroon 3-1 in their opening game of the Caf U-20 Africa Cup of Nations is to get his young charges focused on their next game against Senegal.

Senong said young players more than seniors have a tendency to get carried away with good results and he wants to keep Amajita’s feet on the ground‚ and not let their minds think as far ahead as the semifinals‚ let alone potentially winning the tournament.

Luther’s Singh’s superb hattrick saw SA U-20 notch a fine opening result at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola‚ Zambia‚ on Monday evening.

They face Senegal at the same venue on Thursday night.

“Firstly let’s acknowledge Cameroon – I believe Cameroon were a very good team and they displayed good intensity for the whole 90 minutes‚” Senong said.

• Amajita sink Cameroon in their opening match of the 2017 CAF U20 Africa Cup of NationsRising star Luther Singh scored a sensational hattrick against Cameroon to give the SA under-20 side a dream start to the Caf under-20 Africa Cup of Nations at Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola‚ Zambia‚ on Monday night. 

“We won against a very good team.

“We’re not here to win the tournament or try to qualify for the U-20 World Cup.

"Our main focus is to approach one game at a time.

“Now our entire focus will be on Senegal.

"We won’t talk about the semifinals or winning the tournament.

"Because we are working with youngsters and sometimes they can be inconsistent.

“And we need to push them into the right performance zone‚ just to make sure they focus on Senegal.

“We’ll try to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of Senegal.

“Yes‚ we played very well and we worked very hard.

"But we relied more on our technical speed‚ because our players are very technical and they used their speed very well to get behind their defence.

“But I still believe Cameroon will do very well in this tournament.”

Cameroon dominated possession but the South Africans were the more potent side going forward‚ and Singh the difference between the teams in finishing.

He scored from a powerful free-kick in the 16th minute that Cameroon goalkeeper Junior Dande got two hands to‚ but could only palm into the roof of his net‚ then the penalty spot in the 26th.

In the 57th‚ on a blistering breakaway‚ Singh beat Dande‚ who had come out of his area‚ then finished.

Cameroon coach Cyprien Asshu Bessong took hope from the display by his team‚ even if the result was not favourable.

“We weren’t surprised by SA’s tactic‚" Bessong said.

• Senong names SA starting 11 to face Cameroon in under-20 Afcon opening matchSA under-20 coach Thabo Senong has named his starting eleven to take on Cameroon in their opening match of the 2017 CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.  

"We have got our philosophy of play.

"These are young players‚ and OK‚ you will make mistakes.

“I think some of the goals came from our own mistakes.

"We’ll go back to the training ground and try to rectify that.

“I think the South Africans were a very good team.

"But I think we controlled most of the game.

"And I think we will do better.”

Senegal drew 1-1 against Sudan in Monday’s other Group B game.

The top two teams progress to the semifinals of the eight-team tournament‚ and also qualify for the Fifa U-20 World Cup in South Korea in May and June.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport