Amajimbos coach Khumalo proud despite World Cup exit: We’ve learnt our lessons

South Africa’s national Under-17 coach Vela Khumalo chose to focus on the positives following a 3-0 defeat to Japan in Qatar on Saturday, which ended the Amajimbos’ historic World Cup run.

The South African side became the first at this level to reach the knockout stages of the global tournament, and despite the loss, Khumalo beamed with pride.

“The show ends here,” he said.

“It is experience learnt, and we can only do it at the highest level, which is the World Cup. The experience is huge; nothing equals being at the World Cup. You learn so many things — like if you can be good on the ball and don’t use it properly, you can be punished.”

A slick Japanese side capitalised on South Africa’s errors, especially after the break.

“It was more of a game of two halves. In the first half we did our best, we tried our level best. We were in the game, we had the chances.

"Neo (Rapoo) should have scored one of the chances — though I don’t blame him because he was brilliant. We created three or four good chances which should have gone in.

"It shows that with time — if we were playing together — we should have done well. But we take this and say these are the lessons we will use going forward.”

Khumalo explained how a single mistake in the second half allowed Japan to score, after which the game opened up and two further goals followed.

“As we were pressing to get back into it, we started losing concentration and the two goals came in. But our boys played well; they really showed character, and the man of the match should have been their goalkeeper.”

Looking ahead, Khumalo intends to apply the lessons learned in Qatar to next year’s AFCON in Morocco, which will serve as qualifiers for the next U17 World Cup.

“There are so many things — discipline, tactical discipline, doing things at the right time and knowing at which phase one needs to do what. Those are the things we learn and take back to our youth teams as we progress.

"Are we going to be better at the next World Cup? Absolutely. I have my notes.”

“In March next year we are playing AFCON in Morocco. It is the qualifier for the World Cup, and we are looking to put the lessons from this World Cup to good use.

"This was a yardstick for us — the first time we reached this level (last 32). Next time, we must up the bar and go further — maybe into the last 16, or even the last eight.”