The Bafana Bafana reserve side narrowly lost 1-0 to Mozambique in the opening match of the tournament played in Bloemfontein earlier this afternoon.

SA will have to beat Zimbabwe in their next match on Saturday afternoon to increase their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.

They will complete their Group A campaign with a match against Mauritius next Tuesday.

The home team controlled the match in the latter stages of the first half, but they had no single shot on target after six goal attempts with no goals scored at the break.

Mozambique took the lead in the 56th minute against the run of play, but the goal was ruled off-side after VAR review.

The visitors pushed forward and were finally rewarded in the 73rd minute through Antonio Sumbane after a goalkeeping blunder by Thakasani Mbanjwa.


--Reuters--