Bafana Bafana players were devastated by unexpected 3-1 defeat to Mauritania in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier on Saturday at Nouakchott.

South Africa was a goal down after five minutes from a poor goalkeeping error by captain Itumeleng Khune.

Thamsanqa Gabuza equalised for the visitors not long after left-back Siyabonga Zulu was shown a straight red card early in the second half, but Mauritania scored two more goals to seal the victory.

"We are very disappointed; the game did not go according to plan. We found ourselves a goal down very early on and wanted to weather the storm. I felt we controlled the game but we were sloppy with the ball, tried to break down a team that had all the players seating behind the ball waiting for a counter attack," said Dean Furman.

"Our ball retention and use of the ball had to be far better than what we displayed on the day. Credit must also go to Mauritania, they played well managing to catch us on the counter attack with their second and third goals and the sending off which turned the game into their favour even more.

"We are highly disappointed with the result and it is important for us to put it right as soon as possible."