Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has assessed the takeaways from the international friendly against Nicaragua following Friday’s 0-0 draw at Orlando Amstel Arena.
It was a frustrating draw for South Africa against the lowly-ranked Central Americans. Broos described their play as “just kicking the ball upfront and didn’t do anything to try to score.” Preparing to face co-hosts Mexico, the Czech Republic, and South Korea, Bafana have been hard-pressed to find top-quality opposition to fine-tune themselves for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
But they came up against lowly-ranked Nicaragua, who, however, restricted them to a goalless affair. The crowd at Orlando Pirates’ home ground anticipated a convincing win for Bafana as a befitting send-off to the global football tournament.
But a blunt attack was exposed, and a midfield lacking creativity might have left Broos a very worried man. However, the Belgian has worn a brave face, insisting he was happy with how his men executed themselves.
This is despite Broos also complaining about the disruptive play of their opponents, whom he claims lacked a defined system. It was an evening Lyle Foster missed a first-half penalty. The likes of Themba Zwane, Oswin Appollis and Relebohile Mofokeng struggled to impose themselves.
BROOS ‘DISAPPOINTED’ IN NICARAGUA AS OPPONENTS
“Maybe this will surprise you a bit when I say that I’m happy with the performance of the team, even if the result was not what we expected. It was a very difficult game today against a very negative opponent,” said Broos in his post-match media address.
“Those guys, I don’t know what they came to do here. It was just defending and kicking the ball in front.
“So, that means we had to be patient and try to find the spaces and opportunities. There were some opportunities, especially in the second half.
“If we could have scored that penalty, maybe it could have been another game, but when you see in the last 15 minutes that one after the other is injured.
“It was like they were playing the final of the World Cup, and that was not the goal for us. We would like to have a good opponent that would try to play football, and that was not the case today [Friday].
“A little bit disappointed about the opponents, but I’m happy with the performance of my team, certainly about some new players who were with us for the first time. [Kamogelo] Sebelebele gave us a good game, [Olwethu] Makhanya at the back had a good game.
“Also, [Thapelo] Maseko in the second half and a few others. So that means they deserved to be with the team, and it also gives us an opportunity for the next few weeks before the World Cup.
PLAYING NICARAGUA: GOOD PREPARATIONS FOR THE WORLD CUP OR MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR BAFANA BAFANA?
After playing back-to-back matches against Panama in March, Bafana were expected to continue playing international friendlies against teams ranked higher than them by FIFA. This is in preparation for the tougher World Cup assignments.
But 60th-ranked South Africa went for Nicaragua, who are ranked 131 on the FIFA rankings, and they will play Jamaica on June 5, with the Reggae Boyz in 71st place in the world. That means their last two opponents before the World Cup will not be at the tournament in North America.
“When you think that all our opponents are going to play like this, that was a good game for us. But I don’t think that will happen,” added the Belgian.
“This is really coming on the pitch and defending with 10 men and kicking the ball in front and hoping that the ball falls good and that you can have an opportunity. But on the other side, I know that our [World Cup] opponents, when they have to defend, it will be against a block, that is for sure.
“But you will have more opportunities. They didn’t do anything to try to score a goal today. I don’t think that with Mexico and the Czech Republic or even South Korea, we will play against an opponent like this.
“Also, the injuries, those are yellow cards in the World Cup. The rules have changed; you can’t do that anymore. I told their coach, ‘What is this? Play football.’ But he was very happy with the draw, I think.
“This is a pity, I would have loved to play against an opponent that defends. This is totally normal that you defend and try to be organised, but when you have the ball, try to do something. That was not the case with our opponents today.”
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