Hugo Broos and his Bafana Bafana side suffered a 2-0 defeat to Mali in their first match of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Group E.
South Africa showed serious threat problems early in the match with their pace, winning a penalty in the 18th minute after Sikou Niakate was adjudged to have fouled Evidence Makgopa in the box following a VAR check by referee Mohamed Hussein, who awarded them a penalty.
Al Ahly star Percy Tau ballooned the penalty and he has since apologised.
In the second half, Hamari Traore and Lassine Sinayoko scored for Mali in the 60th and 66th minutes to seal a massive victory for the Malian Eagles.
Broos explains why Bafana Bafana lost
However, coach Hugo Broos has blamed his side’s loss on Tau’s penalty miss and lack of physical strength.
“The performance of South Africa was good, and I think if we scored the penalty, we would have been good,” he said during a post-match press conference. “They were more physical than the first half. This was the major difference. We lost a lot of balls, and mostly because of the physical conditioning of Mali was better than us. So this is the difference and this is where Mali was able to change the game, not at the football playing level” said Broos.
“The coach of Mali saw what he had to do, and they were stronger on duels in the second half and we couldn’t play our game anymore. We lost the ball where we shouldn’t have lost it but then again, I think the performance was good but just not good enough,” concluded a dejected Broos.
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South Africans are now turning their attention to their southern African neighbors, who stunned Tunisia with a historic 1-0 win yesterday. They will clash on Sunday at the Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly in Korhogo.
Mali leads Group F by three points on goal difference, with Namibia trailing with the same points.
