Bright Stars Player seen in action, in Bujumbura, Burundi. June 10, 2017

South Sudan football team suffer defeat in their first AFCON group game on Saturday, with the Shallows of Burundi in Bujumbura, Burundi.

It was a disappointing result in the end for South Sudan, with the national team, Bright Stars going down 3-0 against an impressive Burundi team in Bujumbura.

Goals from Amissi put the hosts ahead in the 12th minute, Duhayindavyi added the second and Abdul Razak put Burundi who started strongly 3-0 up after just 25 minutes into the game.

South Sudan improved in the 2nd half but was unable to impact on the scoreline.

While it was a tough result, in the end, the Bright Stars battled admirably after arriving in Burundi hours before the match.

The Bright Stars were missing several key players including Aluk Akech, Dominic Aboy, David Dada and Atak Lual.

Khartoum-based Jimmy Wani Mandela played his first game for South Sudan since 2013 and was one of the team’s best players.

South Sudan will now face Uganda in the CHAN qualifiers on 14 July in Juba, and the return leg in Kampala a week later.

The next AFCON qualifiers not until March 2018 when South Sudan will play Mali in Juba.