Inexperience Costing Bafana, Admits Ngezana
Bafana Bafana defender Siyabonga Ngezana believes the team’s lack of experience at the Africa Cup of Nations has worked against them at times during the tournament in Morocco.
South Africa have 14 players making their AFCON debuts, and this has been evident in their performances, with the team struggling in all three group-stage matches — despite coming from behind to defeat Angola in their opening Group B encounter.
In their second match against Egypt, Bafana Bafana played the entire second half with a numerical advantage after Mohamed Hany was sent off for a reckless challenge on Teboho Mokoena just before half-time.
Despite committing numbers forward, South Africa were unable to break down the North Africans’ deep, compact defence.
Egypt, however, enjoyed a slice of fortune when Khuliso Mudau was penalised for a hand to the face of Mohamed Salah — a decision widely regarded as soft.
Bafana Bafana felt aggrieved moments later when they were denied a penalty of their own, with the referee waving away appeals despite being called to review the incident on the VAR pitch-side monitor.
In their final group-stage match on Monday, South Africa were forced to take the lead three times against Zimbabwe before eventually sealing a 3–2 victory through an Oswin Appollis penalty.
“It is a difficult tournament because the tempo is high and you have to adjust as quickly as possible,” Ngezana told TimesLive, who has been preferred at the back alongside novice Mbekezeli Mbokazi.
“We have a lot of inexperienced players in the squad — 14 players who have never played in this tournament before. It is our first time, and we need to cherish the experience and grow as the tournament progresses.
“You saw the intensity of the game against Zimbabwe. We scored and they replied; we scored again and they scored again, but we never gave up. Mistakes are going to happen, but the most important thing is not to drop our heads and to keep going.”
Bafana Bafana finished second in Group B with six points, one behind group winners Egypt, and are now waiting to discover their round-of-16 opponents from Group F.
South Africa will face the Group F runners-up, with the Ivory Coast (four points) meeting Gabon (zero points) and Cameroon (four points) taking on Mozambique (three points) in the final round of group matches on Wednesday night.
