By Michael Madyira
Bafana Bafana had to fight back to force a 1-1 draw with lowly-ranked Andorra in an international friendly match in Algeria on Thursday night.
The Tricolors stunned South Africa when Ricard “Cucu” Fernandez thrust them ahead as early as the fifth minute.
But Hugo Broos’ men hit back through Sekhukhune United midfielder Elias Mokwana who was making his international debut.
That was followed by a goalless second half in a match where Broos trusted some fringe players to start.
Cape Town City’s Khanyisa Mayo led Bafana’s attack while Tapelo Xoki also made his national team debut by partnering with his Orlando Pirates teammate Nkosinathi Sibisi at the heart of the defence.
AmaZulu winger Mlondi Mbanjwa and the Buccaneers’ Patrick Maswanganyi were also debutants as Goodman Mosele returned to the line-up.
The new boys had an opportunity to impress and decimate the 164th-ranked Andorra but did not rise to the occasion.
That left their Belgian coach lunging into his forwards although he laced his angry remarks with some diplomacy, saying he was satisfied with the way his men carried themselves.
“That was the goal of today to give those players chances and to give them some experience. I’m satisfied,” Broos told Safa media after the match.
He said the match showed once again the problem with South African football.
“We don’t have that scorer. Andorra’s guy had one chance and he scored a goal. But we had six or seven chances and we only scored once,” he said.
“You win if you are more aggressive and have more quality in front of goal.”
While Bafana might have disappointed with Thursday’s outing ahead of the resumption of 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in June, they can take comfort from the fact that they were shambolic in the build-up to the Afcon tournament but went on to claim bronze.
Pictured above: Bafana Bafana midfielder Thabang Monare challenged by an Andorra player.
Image source: Safa
