Congo coach Marie Madienguela says the Red Devils have to be tight in midfield after being held to a 2-2 by Uganda in the ongoing Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.

Congo scored in the second half to share the spoils after Uganda had gone 2-1 up in the first half.

Josna Loulendo put Congo ahead with a brilliant header before goals from Titus Ssematima and Saidi Mayanja put the Hippos ahead.

“I think the players did well today and the match was at a good level and I am proud of them. We will do our best to win our next match,” Madienguela said.

Congo was reduced to 10n men, following the red card shown to captain Claude Ngongara towards the end of the first half.

“I think it was very bad to get the red card in the match but we will deal with it in the next match.

“I want to say the Ugandan team played very well from the first minute and we have to do more in the middle of the pitch to win our next match,” Madienguela added.

Earlier, South Sudan defeated Central African Republic (CAR) by a lone goal to seal a historic win and boost their chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Winger Paul Jawa won and converted a penalty against CAR to secure the win for the Young Bright Stars, their first-ever win at the U-20 AFCON.