Broos bemoans lack of attacking threat for Bafana Bafana in World Cup opener
South Africa coach Hugo Broos praised Bafana Bafana’s overall performance despite a 2-0 World Cup defeat to Mexico, lamenting a lack of attacking threat and questioning Themba Zwane’s red card in a dramatic opener.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says they played well overall in their World Cup opener against co-host Mexico.
However, he believes they lacked the attacking threat they needed.
Goals from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez saw Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 in a game that saw three players sent off -- two from South Africa and one from Mexico -- in front of a capacity crowd of 80,000 spectators.
South Africa had Sphephelo Sithole dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity before Themba Zwane was shown a red card for a slap.
Mexico's Cesar Montes was also sent off for a late foul.
Broos says Zwane’s red card was soft.
“I think we played a very good game, except maybe the first 15 minutes, there was pressure from Mexico. So I think we did very well in the first half, except for one moment we lost the ball on our 16. Same thing in the second half, we lost the ball in the middle of the field. Okay, penalty normally, red card normally, but the second red card, I'm not so sure.
“I think it was the Mexican player who blocked Zwane.”
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Before the game, Broos warned his players to be ready for the intimidating atmosphere created by a capacity crowd of 80,824 at the imposing concrete arena.
But South Africa’s players looked to have a bad case of stage fright as Mexico's fans greeted each completed pass with a raucous chorus of "Ole!" in the opening minutes.
Sithole seemed particularly affected, being caught in possession trying to play out of the back for Quinones' opening goal.
Sithole's miserable afternoon ended with a 49th-minute dismissal after bundling over Mexico’s Brian Gutierrez when clean through on goal.
Mexico rammed home their advantage in the 67th minute, with a fine counterattack culminating in Roberto Alvarado crossing for Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Jimenez to nod home at the far post.
It got worse for South Africa in the 84th minute when Zwane was dismissed after a VAR review for flinging an arm into the face of Alvarado.
