Pretoria - The South African Development Team is back in the country after being knocked out of the 2nd Orange African Nations Championship (CHAN), currently underway in Sudan.
The South Africans were defeated 2-nil by Algeria in a quarter-final match played last night in the capital Khartoum.
Algeria were handed a penalty just a minute before the half time break, and Maiza Adel scored to give his side the lead. Hocine Metref sealed victory in the 90th minute to book a place in the last four for the Desert Foxes from North Africa.
This was South Africa's first loss in four matches at the tournament. They won the other three group stage matches after they beat Ghana, Niger and Zimbabwe. South Africa scored six goals in the competition and conceded four.
Head coach, Simon Ngomane, said he was proud of his side's achievement in the tournament and was happy to have worked with a group of such hardworking and dedicated players.
"First I would like to congratulate Algeria for their victory and wish them well in the tournament. I also want to thank my players for doing so well in the group stages when no one gave us a chance.
"I am disappointed with the outcome of this match; I think I am the first to admit that in this last match the players did not come to the party. We really should have done better but, I guess it's the game of football; you win some you lose some. Our mental toughness was really put to the test in this match. Unfortunately we could not sustain the pressure and conceded goals that led to our defeat. At the end of the day the better team won," he said.
According to Ngomane, the experience they received from participating in the tournament was most valuable.
