Amajimbos bomb out of the Under-17 Afcon after 5-0 thrashing by Senegal

Two first half own goals from centre backs Wallace Renecke and Benjamin Wallace contributed to the South Africa Under-17 team’s elimination in the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) as they were routed 5-0 by tournament favourites Senegal in Algiers last night.

Not even the spirit of former SA president Nelson Mandela, whom this stadium is named after and was inaugurated on this day as SA’s first democratic president, could save Duncan Crowie’s team from a humiliating defeat that also robbed the SA team of a place in the Under-17 Fifa World Cup later this year. 

SA started this match better but a mistake by Renecke in the 36th minute led to the first own goal before Wallace, the skipper, added the second blow three minutes later.

The first two goals were conceded just after Amajimbos (Gents) had missed an easy chance to take the lead when Michael Dokunmu headed Siyabonga Mabena’s delightful cross wide.

A minute before the break SA’s defence went to sleep again and allowed Mamadou Sadio to stretch Taranga Cubs’ lead to 3-0. 

Senegal skipper Amara Diouf added a brace with goals in the 55th and 71st minutes as Crowie’s team failed to recover in the second stanza.

The Senegalese went about their business of protecting their lead, remained disciplined and never showboated even when they were leading 5-0, something SA teams can learn a thing or two from.

The semifinal berth earned Senegal a place in the Fifa World Cup. 

SA qualified for the World Cup when they finished as runners up in this competition in 2015, when they were coached by Molefi Ntseki. This time Amajimbos had no chance against a Senegalese side which boasted players which were technically better.

Crowie’s side had qualified for the last eight as one of the third best finishing teams in their group after losing to Morocco (2-0) and Nigeria (3-2) in their group matches. SA’s 3-2 win against neighbours Zambia won them a place in quarterfinals.

Amajimbo’s defeat completed a clean sweep of failures by undercooked SA junior men’s sides after the Under-20s and Under-23s also failed to qualify for their own Afcon tournaments this year.