South Africa under-23 coach David Notoane has made his feelings known over the appalling penalty decision that went against his side in their AFCON U23 semi-final against Egypt.
South Africa were rather unfairly denied a place in the continental competitions final as they went on to lose 3-0 to the tournament hosts, who were fortuitously handed a penalty in the second half that ultimately swung the momentum of the match in their favour.
Penalty… #U23AFCON pic.twitter.com/APlYF6ob6F
— Joe Crann (@YesWeCrann) November 19, 2019
Video evidence confirmed that the referee's decision was way off the mark, with a shot from an Egyptian striker hitting the arm, which was tucked into the body, of Thendo Mukumela, while also being outside of the box.
Heart breaking moment! Still 30min to go. The game is on. Stand up SA and be counted. pic.twitter.com/vWgcKSlHlx
— Christophe Bongo #CBA (@Christophbongo) November 19, 2019
Notoane acknowledged the impact of the penalty, which he immediately determined after the match was unjustly given but refused to discredit the Pharaohs' efforts.
"The penalty, okay, I don't know. But I've had a look at it, and you know what? We all know hey, and we all saw it," said Notoane.
"But it has nothing to do with Egypt, it's a big tournament. Someone mentioned VAR, why don't we bring VAR? But t's got nothing to do with Egypt; it's football, but the bad side of football.
"I have it on my phone, it's outside the box. But I don't want to spoil the occasion for Egypt, and of course in the 80th minute, there was a fouled on my player and we got nothing. It's okay; it's football. We take it; we move forward.
"We made mistakes, you could see the boys emotionally couldn't handle the penalty decision, but Egypt were full value for the 3-0, to be honest."