Bafana Bafana coach Vela Khumalo says scoring will be their biggest focus at training before their crucial 2025 Cosafa Cup group A fixture against Zimbabwe at the Free State Stadium on Saturday (3pm).
The SA national side are in group A with Zimbabwe, Mauritius and Mozambique, who are leading the pack on three points after their 1-0 win against SA on Wednesday.
Khumalo’s troops missed several scoring opportunities in the first half and then struggled to find their rhythm in the second stanza.
Mozambique eventually scored in the 74th minute through Antonio Sumbane, which saw Bafana suffer their first defeat in the tournament.
Khumalo applauded his team’s performance, but said he was disappointed about his players’ inability to score.
He is also the coach of the SA U17 national team.
“We need to go back to training at work on our finishing,” he said.
“I think it sounds more like deja’vu because when I was on the U17 side, it was the same thing.
“We are not scoring. We are creating chances, we get inside the box, but we do not score.
“I think this is not the best way to start the tournament.
“Performance-wise wise we played well. We played the way we wanted to play.
“I think with the first stanza of the game we had so many entries into the box, into the final third, but we did not convert the chances.
“We were rushing things when we got into the box.
“In the second half, we spoke about that, and we even made the team aware of that.
“The only time they were going to score a goal was when they got us on transition, and they did exactly that.
“When you are a position-based team, you get to get carried away with moments, and I think we only needed to concentrate more and be tactically disciplined and convert the chances we created.
“I think we created more than enough chances to get a win out of this.
“Performance-wise, we are looking good, I think this is looking very good, never mind the setback of today.”
Bafana are rock-bottom on the group A log after their defeat to Mozambique.
Their opponents, Zimbabwe, are third after their goalless draw against Mauritius in their opening game.
The Herald
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