Bafana Bafana News Today: Khune blames Broos, Williams defends him & more

Published on by

Bafana Bafana News Today: Khune blames Broos, Williams defends him & more

Latest news about Bafana Bafana, in the last 24 hours, including Itumeleng Khune questioning Hugo Broos’ tactics against Mexico, Ronwen Williams defends approach, and more.

Khune questions Broos’ tactics in loss to Mexico

Former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumleng Khune has questioned Hugo Broos’ tactics in their opening match defeat co-hosts Mexico.

The Belgian tactician opted to play 3-5-2 in a bid to neutralise Mexico’s tactics, but the decision somewhat backfired after the co-hosts found an early lead via Julian Quinones following a mistake of Sphephelo Sithole.

To make matters worse, the latter also got sent off early in the second half before Raul Jimenez netted Mexico’s second goal.

It’s not the result we were expecting and the performance, of course. The guys could’ve done better. But I think coach Hugo Broos started negatively, the way we started playing, the formation,” he told SABC1.

Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana - Image: IMAGO
Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana – Image: IMAGO

“Towards the dying minutes of the game when he put in Makgopa, I think it’s exactly how we should’ve started because we were playing with two strikers, a pacy striker and a tall striker.

“If we had started with Makgopa, those flick-ons, I think Rayners would’ve had chances to run behind the defense and keep the goalkeeper busy, because the keeper only made that one safe from Mbokazi in the first half and the rest watching.”

Williams licks wounds and takes lessons from Bafana Bafana loss

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says the group has taken valuable lessons from their 2-0 defeat to hosts Mexico in their FIFA World Cup Group A opener at the Estadio Azteca on Thursday.

“We obviously didn’t want to concede in the first 20 minutes, but that’s exactly what happened. We wanted to settle the nerves and anxiety but if you make a mistake at this level they will punish you. There are a lot of lessons we can take from this, we need to analyse our mistakes and not give up because there’s still two games to play,” he said as quoted by SABC Sport.

“Most of the games Mexico played in the last year they played with a back five as well. We wanted to go with the same approach, but have an extra number in the midfield.

Ronwen Williams, Bafana Bafana - Image: SAFA
Ronwen Williams, Bafana Bafana – Image: SAFA

“They obviously changed and came with a back four, we had a good game plan but we made that mistake in the first half and that allowed them to get on the front foot,” the captain concluded.

<!-- Author Start -->Willis Sob<!-- Author End -->

Willis Sob

Author

Willis Sob is an experienced journalist who has been in the game since 2009, covering major assignments around the continent.
His hunger for African football is unmatched, always getting the best angles and facts to feed the fans and quench their thirst.

You May Also Like