While Bongani Zungu kept Bafana Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations hopes alive with a headed goal, South Africa struggled to put away lowly neighbours Namibia. JOHN GOLIATH looks at five taking points from the match.
Why change the goalkeeper?
Ronwen Williams had a fantastic game against Ivory Coast, but was replaced in the Bafana Bafana starting lineup with Darren Keet for this match. It seems to be a Bafana tradition, changing something that works, but not addressing the real problems. One South African journalist in Egypt tweeted that third-choice Bruce Bavuma must be excited about Monday’s clash with Morocco …
Percy Tau slowly getting back to his best …
It’s still not vintage Percy Tau, but Bafana Bafana’s star man played a massive role in the victory over Namibia. He dribbled, he tackled, he passed and he got the crucial assist that has kept Bafana’s Afcon flame burning. He was the only Bafana forward who wasn’t static and made a few runs around the Namibian penalty area. Played a bit wider in the second half, which gave Bafana some much-needed width on attack.
On the subject of movement up front …
Lebogang Mothiba, he who plays with his shirt tucked in, needs to be Bafana’s outlet up front by making runs to try to stretch the opposition defence. In South Africa’s first two matches of this Afcon against Ivory Coast and Namibia, Mothiba’s movement has been very limited and easy to defend against. Against teams who are physically stronger, Bafana need to play those one-twos and make runs to draw defenders away from the danger areas.
Bafana full-backs must give the team a bit of width …
The Nambians did well to cut off South Africa’s midfield supply in the first half, but it was mostly because it came via the same channel. Bafana just didn’t have any variation on attack, and tried to penetrate the Brave Warriors through the middle. Their full-backs need to get forward a bit more to try and create that width, which will also stretch the opposition and open up the midfield.
Baxter needs to manage his players better …
Bafana coach Baxter has a full bench from which to choose from, including a number of match-winners such as Thembinkosi Lorch and Thulani Serero. However, Baxter has been loathe to go to his bench, even in the heat of Cairo. With a short turnaround before Monday’s match against Morocco, Baxter should have given some of his bench players a run, while also trying find that spark on attack, which has been lacking during this tournament.
