South Africa coach Duncan Crowie says his players will take much good away from their experience at the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria following their 5-0 quarterfinal loss to Senegal on Wednesday.

It proved a bridge too far for the South African side against a Senegal outfit that has now scored 12 goals in four games and not conceded once.

“The spirit of the South African team is that we don’t lose, we always learn from our defeats,” Crowie said. “This is a tough lesson and we will take it in. We faced a very good team with dangerous individual players. We tried to stop them but could not succeed.

“The result is a disappointment for us. No one wants to lose 5-0. Senegal had very good physically able players with good speed. We couldn’t match in several instances.”

It means South Africa miss out on the chance to play at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup that will be staged later in the year.

“I don’t blame anyone for the defeat, even the players who scored own goals. It is part of the game and we can only pick the lessons. I am proud of the players and everything they have given in this tournament,” Crowie said.