Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera has picked what he views to be Bafana Bafana’s area of strength as Hugo Broos’ men prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
South Africa came from behind for a 1-1 draw with the CONCACAF side in an international friendly match at Moses Mabhida Stadium last Friday. The two sides switch the battleground to Cape Town Stadium for another friendly encounter on Tuesday.
Both teams will be at the World Cup and are trying to see their preparedness ahead of June’s quadrennial global football fiesta. After last Friday’s clash, it was the same story as Bafana coach Hugo Broos lamented the chances missed by his side.
With three months to go before the World Cup, that left a sense of urgency to fine-tune South Africa’s attack ahead of the mission in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Broos even mentioned that one of his strikers, Lyle Foster, is “a bit lazy,” in what sounded like a serious concern about his player’s grey area. However, while the 1996 African champions are trying to build areas of strength where they can hurt their opponents, they have received an encouraging endorsement from a Panama player.
‘THEY KNOW HOW TO PRESS’: BAFANA’S STRENGTH REVEALED
“Personally, I felt good, since playing with the national team again makes you feel very happy, but the feeling within the group is 50/50, because we took away some positive things, but we didn’t play the game we usually do; we struggled a bit, but in the end, that’s what these games are for, to prepare us, and I’m sure we’ll do better in the second one,” Mosquera said.
“We need to be more patient with the ball, have more possession, which is what we struggled with in that game, because they knew how to press, and in the end, these kinds of matches against great teams are good for us in preparation for what we will really be playing for in the World Cup.”
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