Former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Roger de Sa has shared his thoughts following South Africa’s Round of 16 exit at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCO] courtesy of a 2-1 loss to Cameroon in Rabat on Sunday.
South Africa’s AFCON campaign came to an end in the first knockout round after a mixed but competitive Group B showing. Hugo Broos’ side recorded a 2-1 win over Angola, suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Egypt, and edged Zimbabwe 3-2 to qualify for the last 16.
Speaking to FARPost, De Sa, who also served as Egypt’s assistant coach and helped the Pharaohs finish runners-up at the 2021 AFCON, said the nature of knockout football leaves little room for error.
“It is the knockout stage, anything can happen,” De Sa said. “The fact that we got there convincingly was positive. The game against Egypt could have gone either way and we could have topped the group. We weren’t at our best in the group stages, but we still qualified comfortably and deserved to be there.”
ROGER DE SA: CAMEROON DID NOT OUTPLAY BAFANA BAFANA
“You don’t want to be at your best at the start of the tournament. You want to peak at the right time. Unfortunately, once you reach the knockout stages, anything can happen, and that’s what we saw.”
Despite the defeat, De Sa felt South Africa were competitive against Cameroon. “I don’t think we were outplayed at all. In certain moments we were very good. It came down to the final third and that lethal edge we sometimes lack.”
He pointed to experience as a key difference between the two sides. “The Cameroon players all play abroad in higher leagues. Without taking anything away from the quality of the Betway Premiership, these players have more international experience. They play international football every day, and that makes a difference in the end.”
“I thought we did well to avoid Cameroon’s physicality. We kept the ball, moved it quickly and played to our strengths. We were unlucky not to go through.”
Looking ahead, De Sa believes the AFCON experience will aid South Africa’s 2026 FIFA World Cup journey. “I hope it helps us prepare for the World Cup. It will give coach Hugo Broos and his staff a clearer idea of what they have and what they still need. There’s time now to prepare for the next chapter in June. Mexico is a different challenge altogether, a real monster. We beat them 1-0 in Qatar, but we were hanging on.
“This AFCON is not the end of the world. There were many positives,” the Oman assistant coach concluded.
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