Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, has indicated that he will evaluate the mental well-being of goalkeeper Veli Mothwa following a significant error in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match at Orlando Stadium on Friday.

Mothwa’s blunder, which allowed Rogers Mato’s powerful strike to slip through his fingers, contributed to the visitors’ taking the lead in the second half. However, Bafana Bafana managed to recover, with debutant Thalente Mbatha securing a vital draw that extended Bafana’s unbeaten home record in AFCON qualifiers to 17 years.

As Bafana Bafana prepares to face South Sudan in the second match of their qualifying campaign, Broos acknowledged that Mothwa was mentally affected by his mistake.

It was surprising that Broos selected Mothwa for the match, given his lack of playing time at club level due to the league’s delayed start on 14 September. However, Mothwa was the most experienced goalkeeper available after inspirational captain Ronwen Williams was ruled out due to injury.

Broos faced a difficult decision between Mothwa, the uncapped Sipho Chaine (who has played all five matches for Orlando Pirates and is in the MTN8 final), and Ricardo Goss (who was part of the Bafana Bafana bronze medal-winning team but has seen limited action at the national level). Goss had also previously made a mistake against Andorra in a FIFA series match.

Many felt that Chaine should have started against Uganda, considering Uganda’s lower ranking and previous record against South Africa who they have not defeated.

“It is not a nice thing for a goalkeeper when he makes a mistake, but as goalkeeper you know what he did wrong and that we could have lost the game with that mistake,” said Broos.       

“He is really down in this moment and I will have to see how he is in the next days. But if you feel he is not ready to play the game on Tuesday, you can’t put him because there is a risk that he could make mistake again. 

“For a goalkeeper it is very important, even more than an outfield player, that he is mentally good because sometimes you do two things in the match.  

“On Friday, he didn’t have to do too much and for the one or two things that he had to do there was a mistake and that is not a happy thing for the goalkeeper. 

“So, we will see how he is in the coming days and let’s see on Tuesday.” 

Bafana Bafana will face South Sudan at Juba Stadium on Tuesday at 15:00.