Manqoba Mngqithi says Bafana Bafana didn’t do themselves justice in the 2026 FIFA World Cup opener against Mexico, being especially critical of the role and performance of Sphephelo Sithole which left the side “exposed”.
Bafana on their return to the global stage after 16 years lost 2-0 to El Tri in the tournament opener where they also finished the game with nine men after Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off.
Coach Hugo Broos had started with five defenders, three midfielders and two strikers – a system Mngqithi, who was a studio analyst for the SABC questioned.
Mngqithi felt the system restricted Bafana, and they didn’t show their quality and capabilities.
“To be honest, I think we never came to this game to play,” said Mngqithi on SABC TV.
“We never came to this game to showcase what South Africa is capable of. Already, when you are playing with five at the back, and we are having a tall striker and another striker without any creative players, because the midfielders -three were all three defensive players:
“Jayden Adams, Sithole, and [Teboho] Mokoena, and worse Sithole is the central one of the three. Because that’s where we were exposed, because technically he was exposed a lot in that position.
“So, in my opinion, we did not showcase what South Africa is capable of. When you look at a [Oswin] Appollis coming in, the few minutes that he got in, he took a shot, and a good shot for that matter and when a team was actually two men down.
“So, you can imagine what could have happened if he [Broos] unleashed Appollis, [Tshepang] Moremi, Iqraam Rayners or [Lyle] Foster, maybe [Evidence] Makgopa earlier, just to have, because the picture of the game was always clear that we are going to have space behind the defence.
“And one moment where we exposed what I spoke about, where [Khuliso] Mudau went for Montes. Montes got a red card. Imagine if we had that from the beginning, where a Moremi or Appollis is demanding the space behind, because Montes, good as he is technically, but he’s very slow.
Bafana’s next match is against Czech Republic in seven days’ time in Atlanta.
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