Thursday, Feb 23, 2023 09:53 PM
South Sudan coach Peter James says his team can draw inspiration from the Atlas Lions’ run at the World Cup in Qatar following their historic 1-0 win over the Central African Republic.
The Bright Stars scored a first half penalty courtesy star man Paul Mara to beat CAR in their TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations clash in Ismaila.
South Sudan are participating at the tournament for the first time after they qualified as runners-up of the CECAFA zone and James says the example set by Morocco is something they are keen on emulating.
“We have so many examples like Morocco did it at the FIFA World Cup why not South Sudan here at the AFCON U-20,” James said.
“Football is a game of hard work – we have been working hard in the first game. I’m very happy we did the job and we will continue in that spirit.
“I’m happy for him because he has been improving on his performances every game.”
James heaped praise on Paul Mara Jawa who scored the winner and was on the scoresheet against Congo.
“The last match he came in and scored the goal against Congo and today he won and scored the penalty and created many chances for the team so I’m very happy for him and I believe he is going to be one of our top players in South Sudan,” James said.
“It is our first time to qualify for the AFCON U-20 and it is an honour but we’re here because we deserved to be here.
“We came from the CECAFA zone with Uganda so we’re trying to show where South Sudan football is.
“Our next target is to win our next game so that we move up.”
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