Soccer
Bafana too strong for Uganda in Kampala─── MORGAN PIEK 07:33 Sat, 16 Nov 2024
Bafana Bafana went to the top of Group K in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers following a win against Uganda in Kampala.
The 2024 Afcon bronze medallists beat the Cranes 2-0 on Friday (15/11) following an outstanding second half at the Mandela National Stadium to move up to 11 points.
The match was deadlocked at 0-0 at halftime before the substitute midfielder Thapelo Morena opened the score in the second stanza. The former Bloemfontein Celtic player Morena caught the Uganda defence napping to score an opportunistic goal in the 49th minute to put South Africa 1-0 in the lead.
While Uganda pushed hard in the second stanza, Bafana, remained in control of the game and just looked cool, calm, and collected.
The Orlando Pirates striker, Patrick Maswanganyi, doubled South Africa’s lead in the 89th minute by scoring a special goal in what was just his second appearance for Bafana making his debut against the Democratic Republic of Congo last month.
The win has put South Africa in control of Group K with just a match against South Sudan still to come. While Bafana has qualified for Morocco 2025 finishing at the top of the group remains important.
The Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, said he was more than satisfied with the results following what he felt was a difficult match, especially in the first 45-minute period.
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“Yes, I’m very happy we won the game today – it was a tough game,” said Broos.
“A difficult game also, certainly the first half. We played it too slowly and there was good defence from Ghana. We had too few chances in the first half.
“In the second half, our game was better, we found the men in the deep more easily and that was a little problem for Ghana today. So we scored at the right moments and we came here to win, we came here to be first in the group.
“We are first in the group now and we will try Tuesday (19/11) to win the game against South Sudan, to stay first in the group and we will try to get to 14 points.”
On Tuesday, Bafana will face South Sudan in Cape Town in their final Afcon qualifier and this game in Green Point kicks off at 18:00.
OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg
