South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba has blamed his players for the 2-1 defeat to Ghana in the last Group C game  at the Estadio De Mongomo, Mongomo on Tuesday.

At a post-match press conference, coach Mashaba said his players allowed Ghana to dominate the game in the second half.

“My players went to sit at the defence after the first half and invited pressure on themselves.

I don’t know why they decided to do that because it gave Ghana the opportunity to put pressure on us. 

Maybe they thought they could have defended till the 90 minutes.

“The decision to sit back and defend obstructed the goalkeeper on several occasions and this accounted for the defeat," Coach Mashaba lamented.

He added that the players were also sluggish in the second half and found it difficult moving into the Ghana defence.

Coach Mashaba however described the competition as a learning curve.

“We are building a team for the future and the competition has served as the appropriate platform for the players."