South Africa defeated Lesotho 2-1 in the second round of the African Youth Championship group stage at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

It took Koapeng Letsie 22 minutes to score the opener for the South Africans, and 10 minutes later his teammate Nguzana Lucky enhanced their lead with the second goal.

Marabe Leonty scored Lesotho only goal on 66 minutes.

The hosts, who lost 4-2 against Mali in the tournament’s opener, are now third in group A with three points, while Lesotho are in a hopeless situation as they lie at the bottom with zero points.

South Africa will be in a must-win situation when they take on Egypt (second on goal difference with three points) in the third round to ensure their qualification for the semi-final. All teams in the last four automatically reach the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.

Lesotho, who lost 2-0 against Egypt, will have no hope of progressing when they meet Mali in the coming round on 23 April.