Bafana Bafana played to a thrilling 3-3 draw in their South Africa vs Algeria game on Tuesday night in what was a gutsy display by the visitors. The FIFA Series international friendly was staged at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers where the South African started like a house on fire.
Inspired by the evergreen Themba Zwane, Bafana was the better side of the two in the opening stages of the clash where coach Hugo Broos made changes. While he missed Evidence Makgopa upfront, he started with Stellenbosch striker Iqraam Rayners who provided pace in the final third.
South Africa vs Algeria – Bafana Continues Where They Left Off at AFCON
The 1996 African champions, Bafana continued where they left off at the AFCON tournament as they didn’t show much respect to the Algerians who boast a star-studded line-up. Despite showing hunger and taking the game to their hosts, Broos and his men failed to break the deadlock when Oswin Apollis missed a glorious opportunity in the first 10 minutes.
Zwane was instrumental for Bafana but it was the Desert Foxes who scored first through hattrick hero Yassine Benzia in the 22nd minute. In a swift response, the Mamelodi Sundowns skipper brought Bafana to the game and equalised in the 34th minute before completing his brace in the 45th minute.
Heading to the interval leading 2-1, it was skipper Yacine Brahimi who made it 2-2 in the 70th minute through an error by skipper Ronwen Williams, but Rayners restored the lead for Bafana just after the hour mark. However, the lead was shortlived as Benzia struck via a special acrobatic goal which gave Bafana’s Williams no chance at all. 3-2.
Bafana in High Spirits Against Big Guns
Broos has surely stabilised the team and their display showed that reaching the third spot at AFCON was no fluke. There is camaraderie, belief, and hunger in the team despite the draw. As they will meet Nigeria and Zimbabwe in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in June, there’s no doubt that South Africa is capable of causing an upset because Nigeria lost 2-0 to Mali on Tuesday.
Bafana Failed to Manage the Game
The Southern Africans’ downfall was not managing the game properly after grabbing the lead twice in the match. Despite managing players such as Zwane based on his age, Broos rushed to rest Mshishi.
It was evident that Zwane was a livewire for Bafana and provided options to the likes of Teboho Mokoena going forward. In his presence on the field of play, Mokoena had several chances to go forward and shoot at goal, but when he was subbed, it was more like a relief for the Foxes.
While giving a chance to players such as Goodman Mosele, Khanyisa Mayo, and Elias Mokwana, some of these players didn’t show their worth and froze at the biggest stage. However, the team made Mzansi proud once again and the coach is also excited with the result despite talks of his planned departure for Tunisia.
This comes as this publication reported that the latest media reports in Tunisia indicate that Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos could dump the South African national side, and SAFA responds to the news. According to Mosaïque FM, the website reported on Monday that the Belgian coach will coach Tunisia and leave Bafana.
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