Menzi Magubane
Bafana Bafana surrendered their Cosafa Cup title after going down 5-4 on penalties to Mozambique at King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Wednesday night.
The match ended 0-0 before it was decided on penalties without any extra-time.
The Bafana side joined the competition in the quarter-finals. Hugo Broos’s second assistant coach Helman Mkhalele was the one who was given the task to lead the team after he won the competition last year.
Mkhalele called up several new players who had never played together.
Last year the former Bafana and Orlando Pirates midfielder did the same when he and his then assistant Cedomir Janevski won the title in Johannesburg.
He had good reason to believe that the risk would pay off, and it almost did.
In this year’s competition, Bafana were favourites to win it and they were looking to clinch it for the sixth time.
The win for Mozambique has seen them join Senegal in the semi-finals.
The other teams who will face Senegal and Mozambique in the semis are Zambia and Namibia. The final will be on Sunday afternoon at King Zwelithini Stadium.
As for Bafana and Eswatini they will have to battle with Madagascar and Botswana, the other losers of the quarter-finals.
The two matches will be played early on Friday before the semi-finals begin later.
The winners of the early matches will face each other for fifth place while those who lost in the semi-final will lock horns for third place.
For Mkhalele, the defeat to Mozambique should come as an eye opener and also give him and Broos a chance to bring back the senior team’s stars.
Image source: @CosafaMedia
