Maud Khumalo praises her youthful team despite COSAFA final defeat

South Africa were defeated 4-3 on penalties by the Copper Queens at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking at the post-match presser, Khumalo says she is grateful for the team's tactical discipline throughout the tournament.

"Well, I feel like the girls stuck to the game plan and then for me to play such a game of this magnitude, I feel like the girls were very tactically disciplined. It's just that penalties it's everyone's game but other than that I just say congratulations to Zambia, they showed experience but it showed us that we have a future in this team,” Khumalo said.

“The resilience, the character, taking the game to 90 minutes and then also extra time. I'm very proud."

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Banyana tasted their first defeat of the tournament in the finals, having secured three wins and a draw in the semi-finals against Mozambique.

Khumalo praised her team for holding their own throughout the continental showpiece.

"The aim is to motivate the girls to reach the final and it's something that we did. In finals anything can happen, it's just that I feel like the girls showed character. They showed character in the game against Namibia and they also showed character in the game against Mozambique because they were playing with experienced players’” she added.

“As you look at some of the players here, they played in the World Cup. So, I'm happy with the performance of the girls in terms of the things that we didn't do well."

Khumalo further praised her technical team for a successful tournament strategy.

"Coach Anna Monate and coach Des, we were the ones that are coming in for the next generation to coach Anna. So, coach Lucky and coach Anna's experience and everyone in the technical team, so it's a collective work in terms of the decisions that we made on the bench."