JUBA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan recorded its first win on Thursday in Group K of the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers after edging the Republic of Congo 3-2.
South Sudan head coach Nicholas Dupuis said he was proud of the performance of his players after they upset their favored rivals.
South Sudan conceded early in the first half but managed to secure the win with two goals scored in the second half.
"I think it was a good game; we could have scored five or six goals, and I have to congratulate my players for the first time. The first half was equal for both teams, but as I have always been saying before, we need to perfect the art of defending dead ball situations," Dupuis said during the post-match press conference in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
He said his focus is now on making a deep run in the second round of the 2025 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) when they face Rwanda.
Dupuis noted that the latest win has boosted his players' confidence, and he trusts them to give South Africa a tough challenge in the final AFCON fixture in South Africa.
"I am very proud of my players; we are going to play South Africa next, which is a good team, but we are going to play to learn," he said.
In early November, South Sudan qualified for the second round of the 2025 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship after securing a 3-1 aggregate win over Kenya.
Republic of Congo head coach Isaac Ngata said defensive errors cost his team the opportunity to put pressure on South Africa and Uganda, who qualified following his team's loss to South Sudan.
"It has been a long time for us to score more than one goal in the qualifiers, but today we did it. Our problem was in defense, but unfortunately, we could not respond to the pressure of the South Sudanese attackers," Ngata said.
He blamed his players for lacking concentration after taking the lead twice, which allowed South Sudan to come back in a game that had appeared lost.
"When we scored the first goal, we relaxed, and we were surprised by the goals we conceded afterward. We used the same team that played at home against South Africa, but our players lacked the spirit and motivation, and we cannot blame our loss on the hot weather in Juba," he said.
Uganda leads Group K with ten points, followed by South Africa with eight, the Republic of Congo with four, and South Sudan with three points at the bottom. ■
