Benin coach on Sundowns players’ chemistry following Bafana defeat

Benin head coach Gernot Rohr has spoken out about the chemistry of Mamelodi Sundowns players in the Bafana Bafana squad following the defeat in the World Cup qualifiers.

The 1996 AFCON champions, Bafana started their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on a good note winning 2-1 on Saturday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Hugo Broos’ line-up was dominated mostly by Sundowns stars as six of them started the match. These are namely; captain Ronwen Williams, Mothobi Mvala, Aubrey Modiba, Teboho Mokoena, Khuliso Mudau and Themba Zwane.

To add, all Masandawana stars put up good performances respectively for the team and Mudau scored the second goal.

GERNOT ROHR SAYS SUNDOWNS PLAYERS’ CHEMISTRY HELPED BAFANA TO WIN

Rohr has praised Sundowns players’ chemistry saying it helped Bafana to play better and get the desired result.

“We tried [to compete] but the experience and the complixity of the block of Sundowns, you see that they know themselves very well,” said Rohr.

“We don’t have this complixity in our team. When you have a block with six or seven players from one big club, it’s always easier to make a good collective game as they did especially in first half.

“But that’s not an excuse. South Africa was a better team, we look to play better against Lesotho on Tuesday.”

HUGO BROOS RESPOND TO GERNOT ROHR’S REMARKS

On the other hand, Belgian mentor Broos disagrees with Rohr as he claims the win was a team collective of 11 players.

“It’s not because of those [Sundowns] players that were on the game. We play with 11 players, second half after injuries there were less players of Sundowns.

“For me, whether it’s a Sundowns player or [Orlando] Pirates player or Chippa [United] player it’s important for the team and for the team to win. So it’s not because of them,” he added.

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