In its last game before jetting out of South Africa to Morocco for the 2025/26 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, Bafana Bafana subdued the Black Stars of Ghana in a packed Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto yesterday.
After a relatively pedestrian first half that produced no goal, Sipho “MasterChef”Mbule struck with a long range scorcher in the 57th minute to assert the superiority of Bafana Bafana over the Ghanaians. In a game that was clearly dominated by Hugo Broos’ boys, the visitors did make some sporadic raids in the Bafana danger zone but failed to draw level with the hosts.
It is noteworthy that the Belgian tactician rested most of his regular troops to give chance to some of the new boys that have been selected for the AFCON tournament that commences on Sunday. Absent from duty were Bafana’s foreign players whose clubs overseas did not release them early enough to be selected for the Ghana encounter yesterday.
While Bafana defeated Ghana by one goal, the Belgian mentor was satisfied with the result but unhappy about the overall performance by his charges for not playing their usual dominant game characterized by possession and flowing passes.
After claiming bronze in the 2023 AFCON hosted by Ivory Coast, Bafana have a mountain to climb to improve on the previous performance. South Africans expect nothing less than appearance in the final of the continental contest that starts on Sunday, 21 January 2026 in Morocco. Will Hugo Broos deliver?
