Crowie demands Amajimbos response against Zambia

Amajimbos suffered a 2-0 loss in their tournament-opening encounter on Sunday and will have to respond against Zambia at Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine, Algeria tonight (21h00).

"Obviously, after a defeat, everybody is down, and I think that is how it should be because you feel bad about the result itself, but a victory or defeat only lasts for 24 hours, I believe," Crowie told the media ahead of the match.

"Thereafter, you must lift yourself, especially in a competition like this where you play after three days, so it's even better. The next morning we had to lift the players and show them that we were the better team on the day and the positives we had during that 90 minutes.

"We showed them all that on video, and the belief is back in the team. This morning [Tuesday] it was a totally different camp after the defeat, and I think we are ready. It's no secret that we have to win this game if we want to proceed and stay in this competition."

The 59-year-old former striker believes, in the junior Chipolopolo, they will come up against a vastly different outfit as compared to Morocco, who opted for a counter-attacking approach.

"I think it's going to be a very open game because both teams need to win to progress in this tournament, so both teams will be thinking of going forward, creating opportunities," added Crowie.

"In Zambia, I see a different type of opposition to the one we faced in Morocco, who were very structured, sitting back and waiting for the counter-attack.

"Zambia, on the other hand, are completely the opposite, wanting to go forward and wanting to create goals. Hence we're saying, it's going to be a very open game."

South Africa are currently bottom of Group B, with zero points and a negative-two goal difference, and will need to claim points off both Zambia and Nigeria, who they will face in their final group encounter on Saturday.