Nteski ready for Cameroon test

Molefe Petrus Ntseki, head coach of South Africa’s under-17 team, says he will approach the final Group B game against Cameroon in the Caf Under-17 Championships like a cup final.

After seeing his side come from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Mali in a pulsating encounter at the Stade Municipal in Niamey, Ntseki is now confident ahead Sunday's clash with Cameroon.

Mali had raced into a 2-0 lead-lead courtesy of goals from Sidiki Maiga in the 18th minute and the impressive Boubacar Traore on 60 minutes as the West Africans looked to have sewn up the match.

The introduction of Loyola Natasha changed the tide of the game as the burly forward was instrumental in the Amajimbos' revival as his all-action style enabled Katlego Mohame to equalise for South Africa with 10 minutes remaining on the clock.

Mkatshana got one back for the Amajimbos on 61 minutes before Mohame popped up with the equaliser.

"It was a difficult game. We had to plan well. When a team is two goals down they try to push to get back into the game while the other tries to slow the game down,” Ntseki told supersport.com.

"Their first goal was a set-piece goal that we should have taken care of, but we failed to do so and they punished us.

"Mali had a better 25 minutes at the start of the game and then got their goals. We knew we had to respond and we decided to tweak the system a bit. "We moved the left back to a left wing role and introduced fresh legs".

We also decided to win all the second balls because that was our major issue. When we sorted that out, we were able to get back into the game.”

Ntseki, who saw his Amajimbos side throw away a two-goal lead against Ivory Coast to draw 2-2 in their first Group B game, is optimistic his team has learnt enough going into the last group game against Cameroon.

"It's true that all the four teams are in the running, but we will go and train hard for the Cameroon game,” Ntseki said when asked what his team’s chances were going into the last round of games.

"We will sit down and discuss with the boys what we want to achieve going into the last group game. We respect Cameroon, but we will try and slow down and try to control the game and get a win."

South Africa have now drawn two matches and need to beat Cameroon in order to qualify for the semifinals of the tournament as well as the 2015 Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Chile.