Tau, who missed a penalty in the first half of the encounter after Evidence Makgopa was fouled in the penalty box, highlighted that this was not the start the team wanted.

“If we scored a goal, if we scored the penalty, it could have changed the game but then we missed it and that prolonged the game, I am adamant that if we had scored, it was going to change the game," Tau said.

The missed penalty cast a long shadow over South Africa’s performance as the encounter continued with Mali dominating the second half with two goals to secure the victory.

The result leaves Bafana Bafana in a precarious position in group E, where a win against Namibia in their next match is almost essential to keep their tournament hopes alive.

I missed a penalty, which gave them the confidence to keep going, if we scored a goal it would be a better game and it would change the game entirely however, we still have six points to play for and we will give our best because we want to go through," Tau added.

Bafana Bafana will now focus their attention to Namibia as the two sides lock horns on Sunday, 21 January with kick-off set for 22:00 pm.

The Brave Warriors will come to the game with their tails up having secured a surprise victory against Tunisia on Tuesday evening.