Notoane: 'It's quite clear it wasn't a penalty'

Cape Town - South Africa U-23 head coach David Notoane said it is clear that the referee made an error in awarding a penalty to Egypt in their 3-0 defeat in the semi-finals of the U-23 AFCON on Tuesday.

Abdel Rahman Magdy scored two late goals to secure a win for The Pharaohs after captain Ramadan Sobhy had broken the deadlock by converting a controversial 59th-minute penalty.

The referee pointed to the penalty spot despite the South African defender being clearly outside of the box which handed Egypt an undeserved lead.

"The penalty awarded in the 59th minute had an effect on my players from that point onward," Notoane said. "I have video footage of that incident and it is quite clear that it was not a penalty.

"I would though like to congratulate Egypt on booking their place to next year's Summer Olympic Games We hope to join them as we will now face Ghana for that final Olympic qualification spot.

"Coming into this match we started with Luther Singh playing as our striker because we wanted to break down their defence with speed in the final third.

"My charges played really well, however, lacked a goal or two to complement their efforts in the first-half."

South Africa's chances though of qualifying for next year's Tokyo Summer Olympic Games are still within their grasp as they face Ghana in a third-place play-off on November 22 at Cairo Stadium.

Kick-off is at 16:30 (SA time).

Compiled by Baden Gillion