Sport

Bafana pip Comoros

Matthew Marcus|Published

CONCERNED: Mkhalele, centre

Bafana Bafana stand-in coach Helman Mkhalele says the pressure of emulating Wafcon winners Banyana Banyana got to his players after they advanced to the African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifying second round.

Selected mostly from the U23 national-team ranks, which won the Cosafa Cup shield two weeks ago, South Africa sukkeled to create scoring chances at the Dobsonville Stadium in their first-round, second-leg clash against Comoros as the match ended in a goalless draw.

But thanks to last week’s 1-0 away win, SA will face Angola in the second round of qualifiers for a place in Algeria next January.

However, Mkhalele says: “It was a totally different game [to the first leg].

“We had hoped to improve from last week and dominate at home, but we didn’t do that.

In the first leg we were better.

“But the players were flat. Maybe Banyana’s success at the Afcon put extra pressure on the players.”

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