Alexandria, Egypt (PANA) - Reeling under the 2-0 shock defeat of his team by Guinea in their group match Sunday, coach Ted Dumitru said South Africa could still make progress at the ongoing 25th African Nations Cup (CAN) soccer championship in Egypt.

"I am disappointed because we were totally exposed. We also lacked hope and commitment," Dumitru told a post-match press conference. "And this to a great extent, is due to our recent victory over Egypt in a friendly match. That victory was wrongly analysed by the players who didn't give Guinea the importance it deserved."

But he added: "You didn't see the real South Africa today. I can guarantee that there will be a totally different team against Tunisia in the next match."

While Dunitru remains hopeful that South Africa would qualify for the next round of competition, Guinea's coach Patrice Neveu is cautions even in surprise victory.

"We are not one of the favourites. But I congratulate the players for their commitment tonight. They kept their heads and it was a good test for them. We have beaten a prestigious team today.
It was harder in the first-half than in the second. At the break, I brought some corrections to the players' positioning and movements," he added.

"I chose to play with the same style and spirit as during the qualifiers and hope to go as far as possible but we should keep humble and look at things rationally," Neveu said, noting that he could not watch Zambia-Tunisia match, which ended 4-1 against the Zambians.

"I'll watch the video of the match before making any judgments about our future opponents in the group," he added.