Despite a valiant effort by South Africa in their opening U20 Africa Cup of Nations fixture, Amajita slumped to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of Egypt at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday night.

South Africa dominated the opening exchanges of the game and took the game to Egypt inside the first 10 minutes. Amajita manufactured numerous scoring opportunities and even struck the upright early on.

Amajita kept their foot on the gas pedal midway through the first-half and starved Egypt of the ball in the process. While their North African counterparts were reduced to playing on the counter-attack, South Africa played the majority of their football inside the opposition half.

South Africa piled on the pressure as the half came to a close but were often shut down at the final hurdle. The Egyptians only saw 37% of the ball during the first 45 given South Africa’s dominance around the park.

Amajita were composed on the ball after the restart, while Egypt battled to get a grip of the game leading up to the hour-mark.

However, it was the hosts who took the lead in the 62nd minute as Mohamed Abdallah El Hadad capped off a swift counter-attacking move with a left-footed shot toward the goalkeeper’s far post.

South Africa struck the post for the third time of the game in the 66th minute as Kutlwano Letlhako came agonisingly close to levelling matters for his nation.

The home side frustrated Amajita during the final 10 minutes and reduced the tempo of the match at every opportunity. Nevertheless, South Africa failed to make the most of their goal scoring chances as El Hadad’s 62nd minute effort proved to be the difference maker on the night.

Egypt: (0) 1 (El Hadad 62’)
South Africa: (0) 0

Egypt: Aly, Talaat Abdalla, Ahmed (Abdelhafiz 92’), Goweily (Essam 40’), Baioumy (Hemida 92’), Hassan, Boustenji, Abdin, Soliman, Zaalouk (Abdelazeem Mohamed 46’), Osama (El Hadad 36’)

South Africa: Lowe, Sibiya, Tiwani (Taunyana 59’), Smith, Nkwali (Timba 46’), Kekana, Maku, Phili, Vilakazi (Abrahams 60’), Lethaku (April 68’), Ahshene (Mahlangu 94)