Johannesburg – Bafana Bafana should be forewarned: If they are as lacklustre in front of goals as they were against Zimbabwe, they are in for a shock in the crucial Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier clash against Ghana at FNB Stadium later today.
Disappointingly, South Africa kicked off their qualification campaign by earning one point in the goalless draw with Group G opponents, Zimbabwe’s Warriors in Harare on Friday.
Ghana are the strongest side in the four-nation group and come down to South Africa with their tails up as they lead the mini-log with three points, followed by Bafana and Zimbabwe, who are equal on points.
Ethiopia are at the bottom of the table. Bafana’s Belgian coach Hugo Broos will have to reconsider starting with one man upfront if he is serious about beating the Ghanaians. Broos, the Africa Cup of Nations title-winning coach with Cameroon, will have to consider pairing forward Evidence Makgopa with either attacking midfielder Gift Links, or be outright offensive by giving outright striker Bongokuhle Hlongwane a start, partnering Makgopa.
The introduction of Maritzburg United attacker Hlongwane turned Bafana’s fortunes against Zimbabwe as he ensured his side gained the impetus going forward and was unlucky not to find the back of the net.
Getting an early goal will put Bafana in good stead as Ghana will be looking at pulling off an upset on their way to a second maximum points win.
And with almost a quarter of the Black Stars’ players plying their trade in Europe, the solitary strike from midfielder Mubarak Wakaso, who plays for Chinese club Shenzhen FC, also gives the Ghanaians the edge as Bafana have now been reduced to underdogs.
Broos seems confident that Bafana will be able to prevent the Black Stars from reaching the back of the net.
Broos has said he is satisfied with the performance of the defenders he started within their encounter against Zimbabwe and will not be fixing what is not broken. He surprised many when he gave Mamelodi Sundowns defender Nyiko Mobbie a run at left-back, where his clubmate Thapelo Morena operates.
Completing what seemed to be a solid and faultless back-four, Broos gave the experienced central defender Siyanda Xulu the licence to lead the defence.
“Defensively I think it was all right, we didn’t give too many chances to Zimbabwe because the defence was there and I am happy about that. But on the other side, you have to score goals to win games and we were not good offensively,” Broos said after the match against the Warriors.
“This was for us a problem because at this level, we have to be more dangerous. Sometimes we have to move more quickly to get to the other side of the field and give the opponent problems. These are some of the things that we have to work on.”
Meanwhile, Black Stars coach Charles Akonnor has been forced to give Wakaso a run to lead the midfield in the place of injured Arsenal ace Thomas Teye Partey, while upfront he will throw in Crystal Palace striker Jordan Ayew as leading striker and Orlando Pirates shot-stopper Richard Ofori has reclaimed his No 1 keeper spot after an absence due to injury.
After a successful run of three consecutive World Cup appearances, starting with Germany in 2006, South Africa in 2010 and Brazil in 2014, including Ghana’s quarter-final appearance in Mzansi, recently, Ghana only missed qualification for the last World Cup in Russia in 2018. Bafana last qualified for the World Cup almost 20 years ago.
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