Coach Owen da Gama remains confident his South African side can progress to the knockout stages of the Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations and keep their Olympic dreams alive despite a 3-1 loss to hosts Senegal in their Group A opener on Saturday. Defensive naïvety cost South Africa the points, and they now likely face a scenario where they will have to win both their remaining pool matches, against Zambia tomorrow, and Tunisia on Friday.There was some edge to the South African attack, particularly by the impressive teenager Phakamani Mahlambi, but defensively they looked frail against the pace and power of Senegal.Da Gama says the defeat served as a learning curve for his side ahead of the challenges to come."I'm really proud of our performance despite the defeat, because most our players are young. Our main striker [Mahlambi] was playing very deep but he's only 18 years old and he's a new sensation in South Africa."We can still qualify from the group."Senegal coach Serigne Saliou Dia praised South Africa for taking the game to his side."It was not easy for us because South Africa played well and they created good chances, but we managed to defend well."..