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South Sudan looked impressive, creating several scoring chances, but failed to capitalize on them, eventually losing 2-1 at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia.
South Sudan's debut in the TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations didn't go as planned as they suffered a defeat to Congo in their opening match on Sunday.
South Sudan looked impressive, creating several scoring chances, but failed to capitalize on them, eventually losing 2-1 at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia.
Despite the result, Peter James, South Sudan's coach, was proud of his team's effort and believed they could have taken something from the game had they converted their chances.
"We're disappointed with the result, but we're not disheartened. We created a number of opportunities but didn't capitalize on them, and that's something we need to improve upon," said James.
"We had to deal with some injuries during the match, and that made it difficult for us, but we showed great fighting spirit and managed to score a goal in the end."
"We'll take the positives from this match and work on improving our finishing. We're looking forward to our next game and hope to get a better result," James added.
Congo took the lead through Maurile Bassinga, who scored a close-range goal just before halftime.
Soussou Ilendo doubled Congo's lead from the penalty spot in the second half before Paul Mara pulled one back for South Sudan with a brilliant goal in the 83rd minute.
South Sudan will have a chance to redeem their campaign in their next match against the Central African Republic on Thursday, February 23.
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