By Kopano Dibakwane
The South African football team, Bafana Bafana, suffered a 2-0 loss in their opening match against Mali in the much-anticipated African Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2023 soccer tournament on Tuesday 16 January. The game was played at the Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly, in Korhogo, Cote D’Ivoire.
Bafana Bafana displayed exciting combinations in the first half and looked set to cause an upset against the West African team, but they missed several chances to bury the game.
Bafana striker Percy Tau missed an opportunity to register his first goal of the tournament by missing a penalty in the 20th minute of the first half, after VAR confirmed that Evidence Makgopa was fouled inside the 16th area.
Tau’s penalty miss could have given the South African national team a chance to lead, instead it watered down the team’s confidence and changed the entire complexion of the game.
The first half ended with a 0-0 score and it was time for Bafana head coach Hugo Broos to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate his initial approach.
The second half belonged to Mail who managed to score their first goal through captain Hamari Traore in the 60th minute. Mali striker, Lassine Sinagoko, capitalised on Bafana’ s chaotic defence strategy and scored another goal in the 66th minute.
South Africa faces Namibia on Sunday 21 January. Namibia goes into the game with confidence after a surprising victory against Tunisia in their opening match.
