South Africa Under-20 coach Thabo Senong has hailed his charges for a hard fought 2-0 win over battling Mauritius in a Group B match played at a rain-socked Nkana Stadium in Kitwe, Zambia on Thursday.

Lyle Foster scored a brace to send South Africa top of the group with three points, at par with second placed Egypt, who defeated Mozambique 1-0 on Wednesday.

Senong saluted his counterpart Etienne Rasianaivo for their defensive display.

“Hard luck to Mauritius. I think they are a very good team. They were very tough. They played a lot of aerial balls. It was tough for us to deal with that, so well done to our boys.

“We had to work hard to get a good result. We had to adjust our style of play looking at the playing conditions. Of course, the rains disturbed our rhythm of play. First games in a tournament are not very easy,” Senong said.

Rasoanaivo also saluted his charges for giving their best.

Next Mauritius meet Egypt on Saturday at Nkana Stadium, whereas South Africa date Mozambique, also on Saturday.

In a Group C match played earlier at Nkana Stadium on Thursday, Lesotho and Zimbabwe drew 0-0.

By Peter Kanjere