Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos didn’t hold back, slamming Nicaragua for playing “negative” football when the Central American nation held Bafana to a frustrating goalless draw at Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday night.
The game was Bafana’s last friendly on home soil before they depart for the 2026 World Cup in North America on Sunday. Lyle Foster missed a penalty late in the first half.
The World Cup, to be co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada, starts on June 11 and runs to July 19, with Bafana playing Mexico in the opener, a repeat of the 2010 global showpiece’s first game in Johannesburg on June 11.
“Maybe I’ll surprise you a little bit by saying that I am happy with the performance of the team even though the result isn’t what we expected,” Broos said after they were held by Nicaragua, who are ranked 131st, 71 places behind Bafana in the world.
“It was a very difficult game against a very negative opponent. Those guys, I don’t know what they came here [South Africa] to do.
“They were just defending and kicking the ball upfront, so that meant we had to be patient and try to find the spaces and the opportunities, and there were some opportunities certainly in the second half.”
Broos suggested that Nicaragua’s “negative” approach was going to change if Foster had tucked away that penalty in the 46th minute. The Bafana coach also slated the Central Americans for faking injuries to kill time.
“Had we scored that penalty, maybe it was going to be another game, but you saw in the last 15 minutes how they faked injuries to kill time,” Broos said.
“It was like they’re playing the final of the World Cup. We like to have a good opponent that tries to play football, and that wasn’t the case today [Friday], and I am a bit disappointed about the opponent.”
Broos was pleased with the performances of new and fringe players such as Olwethu Makhanya, Kamogelo Sebelebele and Thapelo Maseko, among others.
“I am happy about the performance of my team, certainly the new players who were playing for the first time or those who hadn’t played for Bafana in a while,” Broos said.
“I think Sebelebele had a good game; Makhanya at the back had a good game as well, as did Maseko in the second half and a few others. They showed they deserve to be with the team.”
Bafana, whose other Group A opponents at the World Cup are Czechia and South Korea, will face Jamaica in Mexico on June 5 in their last preparatory fixture before taking on Mexico in the opener in Mexico City.
Sowetan
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