Mkhalele blames players’ ‘lack of game time’ for Bafana’s loss
Coach Helman Mkhalele has blamed Bafana Bafana’s 2-0 loss to Angola in the second round, first leg of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers on a “lack of game time” from his players at the Estadio de 11 Novembro Stadium on Sunday evening.
South Africa created plenty of scoring opportunities, but luck was never on their side to convert them during the 90 minutes.
However, Mkhalele has said he is willing to take responsibility for the team’s poor performance instead of pointing to the players’ lack of activity as they knew they were coming against a formidable opponent that is highly and well-conditioned.
“First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the Angolan team for the result that they have got. When it comes to the game, I’m also proud of my players for the effort that they gave throughout 90 minutes and more of the fact that the majority of these players are not getting game time at their clubs,” said the 52-year-old mentor in a post-match interview.
“You could see through along the game that the legs were not there, and they couldn’t run for 90 minutes even though we tried to push in the second half.”
Meanwhile, the former SA U20 head coach is confident that his troops have all that it takes to turn the tables around when the two teams meet again in the return leg on Saturday, 4 September, at Orlando Stadium (15:00).
“But I still believe that with this game, we have gained a lot in terms of the conditioning of our players as I have said that the majority of them at their club level are yet to get game time. Some of them haven’t played in the past month or weeks due to the fact that they were coming from pre-season, and now this is the first game for them to play in a highly competitive and technical match,” he added.
“And also, I don’t want to make an excuse of saying that my players were not match-fit because coming into this game, we knew that were coming against a tough opponent that is highly and well-conditioned. However, my team’s response on the day gives me hope that when we return home, we will give it all to make sure that we turn the score around.”