Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana lost their Group K Africa Cup of Nations opening qualifier 2-1 against Morocco in Rabat on Thursday night, and the loss will have given a number of lessons for Hugo Broos’ men.
The defensive line is too over-reliant upon Ronwen Williams
Had it not been for a world-class display from Williams in goal for South Africa, Morocco could easily have scored at least five goals. While it’s good that Williams is producing excellent performances in goal to show that he deserves the captaincy beyond any reasonable doubt, the Bafana defence needs to come to the party if they want to achieve a more structured flow of play.
Apart from Khuliso Mudau and Williams, the rest of the Bafana defensive line will not remember the night fondly. Lyle Lakay was struggling to deal with the threat of Achraf Hakimi and perhaps Bafana should have played four at the back instead of three against their more gifted opponents.
A new attacker needs to come to the party to support Percy Tau and Lyle Foster
Without Tau and Foster, Bafana’s attack struggled in terms of creating opportunities and would have been even more quiet. Tau did look somewhat tired after what has been a long season for him with Al Ahly in Egypt, but perhaps Hugo Broos may have erred by having not introduced Bongokuhle Hlongwane into the game earlier. The pace of Fagrie Lakay could have also been useful towards the latter end of the game as the Morocco defence started to tire.
This through-ball from Sphephelo Sithole is 👌
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 9, 2022
A stunning pass from a young player and an equally brilliant finish from Foster 👏#AFCON2023Q
The midfield was the biggest weak point
With more solidity in the middle of the park, Bafana could have got a point from this game which would have been encouraging. Goodman Mosele in particular often was caught off guard in terms of his positioning and lost the ball too many times.
Had the connections between the defence and attack been more efficient, Morocco probably would not have had a massive 29 shots at goal and South Africa would have had more than five. To have allowed the opposition to have 29 shots at goal should be embarrassing for Broos’ men.
The presence of Keagan Dolly was perhaps the biggest miss for Bafana in this game. He is more effective in the playmaker role than Thembinkosi Lorch. Based on his performance in the game, it’s fair to say that Lorch should make way from the starting lineup next time.
We can’t fault Broos just yet
Bafana should be competitive and salvaged a point at least from this game, but the team need a long-term plan rather than expecting quickfire results. Jurgen Klopp did not build Liverpool into a powerhouse over a short period of time and the same applies to Pitso Mosimane who did not build Sundowns into a force from the start.
If Bafana fail to beat Liberia, Broos can be fully critiqued because the national team should not be losing to the 149th ranked Liberians.
IOL Sport