'Sometimes you need a bit of luck on your side,' said the Bafana head coach.
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos refuted suggestions his side have gone backwards, after they were knocked out of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the last 16 by Cameroon in Rabat on Sunday evening.
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Bafana lost 2-1 to the Indomitable Lions, with their tournament ending significantly earlier than the last AFCON, when Broos led South Africa to a third place finish.
Broos’ Bafana struggles
Bafana struggled at times in the group stages in Morocco, particularly in defence where they looked far more vulnerable than in the last AFCON. On Sunday, both Bafana’s defence and attack misfired, as a failure to take early chances also contributed to the side’s exit from the competition.
“We have not gone backwards,” insisted Broos at the post-match press conference.
“I agree that in some games the performance of the team was not at the level of South Africa that everyone knows.
“But you can’t say that today. Sometimes you need a bit of luck on your side. Two years ago in the quarterfinal against Cape Verde, ten seconds before the end Ronwen (Williams) made a fantastic save or we would have lost.
“Today we didn’t have (the) luck.”
Broos was referring in particular to Cameroon’s first goal on Sunday, where a fortunate deflection presented Junior Tchamadeu with a relatively simple chance to open the scoring.
“In the first half we had three clear chances. Normally the game would be done by them … and we paid the price with a lucky goal. A corner was headed out, the guy shoots, it hits our player’s leg, the ball comes to the feet of the Cameroon players and he can score.”
Broos has certainly not endeared himself to Moroccan football fans with his comments at this AFCON. He has criticised the competition for lacking atmosphere, and also hit out at the Confederation of African Football over Bafana’s training venue in Rabat ahead of the Cameroon game.
Moroccans upset
Inside the stadium on Sunday, it was clear that Moroccan fans were generally supporting Cameroon.
There was also controversy before Bafana left for Morocco, as Broos found himself accused of racism and sexism following comments made about central defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi and his agent Basia Michaels.
The Bafana coach did subsequently apologise, and was evasive when asked on Sunday about any problems in the Bafana camp in Morocco.
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“I will not answer that question,” he said.
“First we need to make an evaluation and look at what the problems were or the good things were,” he added.
“Then we will see what we need to change or not, because in six months we have the World Cup and we need to be ready for that.”
