Mntambo: Bafana Bafana don’t have another spare wheel

Bafana Bafana players Siyabonga Ngezana, Oswin Appollis, Lyle Foster and Khuliso Mudau prepare for Afcon. Image: Bafana Bafana

Sekhukhune United midfielder Linda Mntambo has described Bafana Bafana’s AFCON campaign as a family road trip that has used its spare wheel, leaving coach Hugo Broos with the responsibility to avoid another tyre puncture.

South Africa’s Bafana Bafana team face neighbours Zimbabwe in a defining group stage game at the Stade de Marrakech in Morocco on Monday at 18:00.

Following an opening 2-1 win over Angola and a 1-0 loss to Egypt, only a victory or a draw will send Bafana Bafana into the 2025 AFCON Last 16 round.

Standing in the way will be a Zimbabwe team fighting for pride and revenge after losing 3-1 to South Africa in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June.

According to Mntambo, coach Broos is responsible for South Africa’s AFCON fate.

Bafana Bafana coaches Hugo Broos, Grant Johnson, Helman Mkhalele and SAFA president Danny Jordaan at OR Tambo International Airport. Image: Bafana Bafana

“Facing Zimbabwe, it is going to be tough,” Mntambo said on the SmashSports podcast. “I hate playing against teams in the SADC region [Southern African Development Community]. As South Africa, we have the better infrastructure and everything, we are up there.

“The only way that these other countries, and with all due respect, the only way they can compete with us, is egroundin [on the field of play]. There it is, 11 v 11, there are no resources. Man v Man.

“The way I see this story unfold, it is like a family taking a holiday. They [Bafana] are on a road trip. They enter a garage, fill up the tank and start moving. Just as the trip is starting, while everyone is excited, they get a tyre puncture. They have a spare wheel, and they go on to change the tyre.”

A BAFANA BAFANA LOSS AGAINST ZIMBABWE WILL BE THE END OF THE AFCON 2025 JOURNEY

The former Orlando Pirates star added: “Now, forward [into the Zimbabwe match], they [Bafana] don’t have another spare wheel. Should they suffer another puncture, it is over. The road trip is over. We have to call for roadside assistance and go back home.

“This is the situation we are in. The most important person in the car now is the driver [coach Hugo Broos]. The driver can’t afford to drive into a pothole. The driver can’t afford another puncture…

“What we need to do at this point is to reflect…the driver must reflect. What has been working for us? In that 27-match unbeaten run, what worked for us?.”