Amajimbos coach: It's very stressful at the moment

Amajimbos has given his assessment of his team's performance against Algeria at the U-17 Afcon…

Matchday Global18 May 2026

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Speaking to KickOff while in Morocco, Amajimbos coach Vela Khumalo has given a sober analysis of their U-17 Africa Cup of Nations defeat to Algeria.

The national U-17 side lost their second match of the tournament 2-0 on Sunday, even though statistics show they were by far the better team on the day.

READ| Amajimbos overcome Senegal in AFCON opener despite Khumalo’s concerns

They sit on three points following their win against Senegal in the opener.

"It was a difficult game that we made difficult ourselves by not converting our chances," Khumalo told KickOff.

"As much as we dominated possession, we couldn't score. We conceded goals from lapses in concentration, just like the same goal we conceded against Senegal," said the coach.

Khumalo, who is also Kaizer Chiefs' DStv Diski Challenge coach, said the result puts them back to square one as the group is now open for everybody.

"If we had won that game, we would be through to the FIFA U-17 World Cup."

The next game against Ghana is now a must-win for Amajimbos and Khumalo said they don't want to go to the World Cup with a draw.

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"It's going to be difficult against Ghana, who will be coming guns blazing because they have one point and they want three points from us. I've seen Ghana, they are very strong. I'm puzzled why they are not doing well."

Khumalo said this was the nature of this tournament.

"If you don't take your chances, if you are not aggressive enough, and you are not tactically smart, because that's what Algeria is all about – they will hurt you with runs."

The South African coach said that's what happened against them on Sunday evening. He added that they're taking lessons from the defeat.

"We're back to square one, and we hope to beat Ghana and qualify for the Under-17 World Cup.

"It is very stressful at the moment, but we try to contain the stress and provide possibilities for the boys."

The match against Ghana is on Wednesday at 21:00 (SA time).