Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says his team’s 2-0 African Cup of Nations defeat to Mali on Tuesday night is down to two things – a missed penalty and their opponents’ physicality.
Dominated by the Eagles in the second half, South Africa conceded the first goal in the 60th minute when Mali captain Hamari Traoré reacted fastest to a free kick that hit the crossbar, before Lassine Sinayoko ran past Siyanda Xulu as if he wasn’t there to make it 2-0 six minutes later.
But things could have been so much different for South Africa, had Percy Tau scored with an 18th-minute penalty. Instead, Tau smashed the ball into row Z as Mama Joy and other South Africans at the stadium looked on in horror.
Broos says: “We lost the game with two facts, first is missing the penalty and secondly is the physical power that throughout the second half of Mali.
“For those reasons we lost, but the performance of South Africa was good and I think if we’d scored the penalty the game would have been different.”
He adds: “We didn’t have enough strength in the second half - we saw the physical power of Mali, they played closer to the man, pushed, kicked and we didn’t have an answer… they have two giants in centre of defence, they used their power. And then we have to be honest, is that something we don’t have in South Africa?”
Heel laaste in Group E, South Africa next face Namibia in what is a must-win match on Sunday.
Namibia top the log after beating Tunisia 1-0.