Bafana Bafana are licking their wounds after a 2-0 defeat to Mali in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group E match on Tuesday night.
The defeat put South Africa’s national football team in a difficult position ahead of the next group stage match against neighbours Namibia on Sunday night, a dual that Bafana must win at all costs.
Namibia opened their Afcon campaign like a house on fire when the beat highly favoured Tunisia 1-0 earlier on Tuesday.
The victory secured Namibia the second spot on the group standings. Mali and Namibia both have three points, however, the west Africans lead the group on goal difference.
Bafana failed to capitalised after they were awarded a penalty kick in the first-half after Evidence Makgopa was elbowed in the face, however, Percy Tau fluffed his spot kick over the crossbar, much to the chagrin of Bafana’s technical team.
After that, it was one-way traffic for the Mali players who regrouped and went for the jugular. They scored their goals in the second-half via captain Hamari Traore and Lassine Sinayoke.
We must beat Namibia to proceed
“We lost the game because of two reasons,” Broos told Safa media.
“First, it was by missing the penalty, and second the physical power of Mali in the second-half. Our performance was good in the first-half, and if we had scored that penalty, the result would have been different.
“The way we played in the first-half was good, we had depth and good combination play. I think the coach of Mali saw what he had to do and they were strong in the duels in the second-half.
“We lost the ball in places we were not supposed to, and they scored the two goals and the game was finished.”
Continued Broos: “Overall, the performance was good but not good enough – if you do not win [your] first match, you will not be in a good situation.
“We have to win our next match against Namibia because if we play a draw, it will be difficult to proceed to the next round. We have to win that game.”
