South Africa’s Amajita will look to bounce back when they face Tanzania in their second Group A match at the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), set for the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismaila, Egypt, on the late afternoon of Wednesday 30 April.

Kick-off is at 5pm CAT.

SA’s U-20s put up a strong performance in their tournament opener against hosts Egypt in Cairo on Sunday night, but ultimately they succumbed to a 1-0 loss after Mohamed Abdallah El Hadad struck the only goal of the game in the 62nd minute.

Amajita hit the woodwork three times in the match against the young Pharaohs, leaving coach Raymond Mdaka to rue their misses – and call for sharper finishing against Tanzania on Wednesday.

“What a difficult game, I think they [Egypt] did their best and we also did our best, obviously it wouldn’t be as simple as that,” said the tactician.

“From the look of things, we were just unlucky in a number of times, we hit the post maybe three times, we couldn’t finish.”

Mdaka added, “Had we converted the chances that we got, we wouldn’t say anything about the fans, but obviously as the hosts and the crowd behind them, but we can’t hide behind the crowd and saying it’s because they are playing at home.

“We were able to match them pound for pound. We created our own chances, some that we did not take. So, we can’t blame the supporters.”

As Amajita are playing in a five-team group, they still have a strong chance of advancing into the knockout phase – provided they turn around their form quickly.

“Yeah, we are in a group where we have to play four matches because the teams are more in numbers, but then we still have a lot to play for,” noted Mdaka.

“So, we haven’t given up to say we can’t make it because we lost the first game.

“We wanted to win the first game, yes, but we still have three more games to play and that is equal to nine points, so we’re still there in the tournament.”

The match will be Tanzania’s first of the tournament, as they were the inactive fifth team for the first matchday.