Manager of the South Sudan Under-20 manager Peter James has pointed to his team’s missed chances in their 2-1 Group B loss to Congo at the ongoing Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
The Bright Stars were making their tournament debut and fell behind to goals in either half from Deo Bassinga and Prince Soussou (penalty) before Paul Jawa scored the consolation goal in the 83rd minute for the South Sudanese.
While the goal was a thing of pride for the world’s youngest country, James sees the game as a closed chapter and is focusing on the next game against neighbours Central African Republic at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismaila on Thursday.
HISTORY 🤩
The moment Paul Jawa scored South Sudan’s first-ever #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 goal 🎯 pic.twitter.com/UDwrOZPdLN
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 (@CAF_Online) February 20, 2023
“Congratulations to Congo for winning the match, it was an amazing match. We gave everything, but we didn’t make best use of our chances,” James said on the CAF website.
“Congo, they did well in the first half and second half we came back to the game, and we scored a goal, but this chapter is now closed and we’re looking forward to the second game.
“Many things happened. I lost my defender (Sarfino Lado) and in the last ten minutes I also lost my striker Felix Abishai, but we strategize and yes, we lost the game but we’re still in the tournament.
In the other Group B game, 2021 U-20 AFCON runners-up Uganda defeated Central African Republic 2-1 courtesy of goals from Isma Mugulusi and John Dembe.
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