“To be honest, the boys played well and showed character," said Khumalo.
Amajimbos coach Vela Khumalo bemoaned costly mistakes and loss of concentration after his side’s loss to Japan on Saturday.
This comes after the South African Under-17 men’s team bowed out of the FIFA U17 World Cup 2025 following a 3-0 defeat to Japan at the Aspire Zone Complex in Doha, Qatar.
ALSO READ: Broos praises ‘important player’ Mokoena after 50th cap for Bafana
Amajimbos dominated the first half of the match, but could not beat the Japanese goalkeeper, who made brilliant saves to deny the likes of Neo Bohloko and Selwyn Stevens.
Japan took the lead through Hiroto Asada in the 48th minute, and Minato Yoshida made it 2-0 eleven minutes later. And Shota Fujii grabbed the third in the 72nd minute to put the game beyond Amajimbos’ reach.
“It was a game of two halves – we were in the game in the first half, and we should have taken the three or four chances that we created, but we took the lessons. The second half was more of a mistake from us and they scored, and that opened up the game. But then we lost concentration and they scored two more goals,” said Khumalo as quoted by SAFA media .
“To be honest, the boys played well and showed character. I think the man of the match should be their goalkeeper. We bow and say thank you to the South Africans for the support since we started until now.”
Khumalo takes lessons from Japan defeat
Khumalo added that a lot of lessons have been learnt from Amajimbos’ journey at this year’s FIFA Under-17 World Cup.
“In the World Cup you learn so many things. You learn that even if you can be good on the ball, if you don’t know how to use it properly, you’ll be punished. Dedication, tactical discipline, doing things at the right time and knowing exactly in which phase one needs to do, will we get better in the next World Cup? Those are the things that one has learnt to say for us to get even further in the tournament next year, what are the things that we need to take from this World Cup, which I have in my notes,” added Khumalo.
ALSO READ: Broos hails Nkota impact in Bafana victory over Zambia
South Africa joins fellow Africans, Egypt, Zambia, Tunisia and Senegal who were all knocked out on Saturday, while Morocco, Mali, Uganda and Burkina Faso progressed to the Round of 16. Ivory Coast didn’t get out of the group.
Amajimbos are expected to land in South Africa on Monday afternoon.
