EDITORIAL | Questions persist over Bafana’s choice of opponents in World Cup build-up

Bafana Bafana return to action for the first time since the calamitous Africa Cup of Nations campaign in January when they take on Panama in a two-legged soccer friendly in Durban on Friday and Cape Town on Tuesday. The matches offer coach Hugo Broos an opportunity to fine-tune his squad for the Fifa World Cup in North America in June. However, questions still remain on whether Panama are the perfect choice to prepare for group A opponents such as Mexico, South Korea and the European playoff qualifier.

Detractors feel Bafana could have secured opponents whose style is similar to the countries in their group, with others even dismissing Panama’s soccer credentials despite being rated 33rd in the Fifa rankings. One of the big critics of the decision to choose Panama is Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi, who feels Safa could have even gone for an African country who are also going to the World Cup The SA Football Association (Safa) has been mum on why Panama were preferred when other nations are going for more formidable opposition to ensure they are properly prepared for the soccer showpiece. One of the big critics of the decision to choose Panama is Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi, who feels Safa could have even gone for an African country who are also going to the World Cup.

But Broos feels Panama’s style is similar to Mexico, against whom his team open the competition in Mexico City on June 11. While the results in the two-legged clash against Panama are not crucial in determining Bafana’s readiness for the World Cup, there is no doubt that a loss would pile the pressure on Broos, especially after the poor performance in Morocco. Going to the continental event as one the favourites, SA meekly succumbed 2-1 to Cameroon in the last 16 after scraping through the group stages.

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The performance even sparked calls for Broos’s head, and such sentiments are expected to be rekindled if Bafana lose to a Panama team already being condemned as weak opposition. Mngqithi argues that Bafana should have secured a well-known soccer nation as opponents, even though Panama are ranked 27 spots above SA.

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