Veteran goalie Tapuwa Kapini has warned The Warriors of Zimbabwe against man-marking Bafana Bafana stars Themba Zwane and Teboho Mokoena.
The ex-PSL goalkeeper, Kapini, rather shed light on how his counterpart Ronwen Williams can architect Zimbabwe’s demise.
Bafana Bafana and The Warriors are scheduled to clash on Tuesday at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers match is pencilled for 18h00.
Though Zimbabwe are at their lowest, this clash promises to be nerve-racking, especially since SA coach Hugo Broos declared, “I will not be happy if we don’t win against Zimbabwe.”
On Friday, Zimbabwe was humbled by Lesotho 2-0 at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto. But there is hope among Zimbabwe’s faithful that the Bafana tie could see them salvage their pride.
Bafana Bafana picked a positive result on the road, sharing the spoils with Nigeria in a 1-1 draw, something that boosts their confidence going into this clash. Themba Zwane scored a brilliant goal that Hugo Broos and his men needed to scare the Super Eagles.
Undoubtedly, the Hugo Broos-led team is in fine fettle compared to Zimbabwe, looking at how they have struggled to rise since the FIFA ban was lifted.
VETERAN GOALIE TAPUWA KAPINI ON WHY ZIMBABWE SHOULD AVOID MAN-MARKING
Predictably, all Zimbabwean eyes will be on how The Warriors will handle the Mamelodi Sundowns duo of Zwane and Mokoena.
But Kapini thinks attempting the man-marking strategy could be suicidal, considering Bafana’s pace and fluidity. The former Zimbabwe international believes Williams is better placed to harm Zimbabwe than the duo.
“I think for Bafana Bafana, what is needed is not such as man-marking. We need to be more compact in our midfield so that we block Teboho [Mokoena] and Zwane [Themba]. Those are problems,” Kapini told FARPost.
“But we need to identify, Ronwen [Williams], that he doesn’t pass in those free windows. Goalkeepers, sometimes, don’t get credit as much, but if you look at some of the goals.
“The goalkeepers start the move. It’s not an assist, but they start all the moves. The main thing we need to do as a team is to look after the pockets where Teboho and Zwane want to receive the ball from Williams.
“This is definitely because Ronwen Williams is deadly when it comes to pin-pointing his passes,” added Kapini.
RELATED STORY: A look at Pitso Mosimane’s take on Themba Zwane
