Defender Siyabonga Ngezana says Bafana Bafana will have to continue rolling with the punches despite most of the players in the squad not having much Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) experience. South Africa coach Hugo Broos called up a final 25-man squad that contained 14 players who have never played in this tournament. Ngezana, who is one of those Afcon debutants, says the standard is high in Morocco.
The South African players taking part in their first Afcon include Ricardo Goss, Thabang Matuludi, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Ngezana, Tylon Smith, Kamukelo Kabini, Bathusi Aubaas and Thalente Mbatha. The rest are Sipho Mbule, Mohau Nkota, Tshepang Moremi, Shandre Campbell, Relebohile Mofokeng and Lyle Foster. Siyabonga Ngezana congratulates Bafana Bafana for progressing to the last 16 of AFCON 🇿🇦🔥👏#ForTheBettor#10BetBafanaBafana#SuzukiSA#AirMobilepic.twitter.com/d4ieMvwJOU In the opening win over Angola in Marrakesh, Broos started with five tournament debutants in Mbokazi, Ngezana, Mbule, Nkota and Foster, while Moremi came on as a substitute.
The level of inexperience is deepened by the squad including youth internationals Smith and Campbell, who are yet to be capped by the senior national team. “It is a difficult tournament to play because the tempo is high and you need to adjust as quickly as possible,” Ngezana, Bafana’s centre-back partner to 20-year-old defensive prodigy Mbokazi, said. Hugo Broos worried about Bafana’s softness at certain stages of matches.WATCH full press conference ➡️➡️➡️https://t.co/U4ko96g8fNpic.twitter.com/bAFjatVqoQ “We have a lot of inexperienced players in the squad — 14 players who have never played in this tournament before.
Read Full Article on TimesLIVE
[paywall]
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 also scored again, but we never gave up.
Mistakes are going to happen in the game, but the most important thing is not to drop our heads and carry on.” Bafana, the runners-up in Group B, are waiting anxiously to find out who their last 16 opponents are between Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Mozambique. South Africa meet Group F’s runners-up, where Ivory Coast (four points) meet Gabon (zero) and Cameroon (four) meet Mozambique (three) in their final round on Wednesday night (both 9pm SA time).
[/paywall]
