What Broos told Bafana at halftime in stirring win against Zim

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos asked his players to get wider with the ball and close spaces far quicker without it in a second half where they scored two unanswered goals that earned them a 3-1 2026 World Cup qualifying win against Zimbabwe on Tuesday.

Bafana’s fired-up victory in front of a vociferous packed Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein has put them firmly on the front foot in Group C, leading the pack with seven points with Rwanda and Benin.

Group heavyweights Nigeria’s disastrous start with three draws, two of them at home and one of those against Lesotho, plus a defeat, has given Bafana genuine encouragement at the possibility of a first World Cup qualification other than as hosts since 2002.

The South Africans edged play in the first half but were often vulnerable to Zimbabwe’s counterattack. Bafana took control of proceedings far more convincingly after the break.

Broos said it was not just the introduction of the renowned pace of Mamelodi Sundowns right-winger Thapelo Morena, who scored a brace, at halftime that swung the game Bafana’s way, but also a few tactical changes made at the break.

“We made one mistake in the first half — we did what Zimbabwe wanted,” Broos said, asked what he told his players in the change rooms at halftime.

“We played through the centre and the wings didn’t stay wide, so that meant everything was [congested] on a little surface.

“And then we tried to make passes but it was easy for Zimbabwe to defend, and once they had the ball they played it immediately to the front and that sometimes made moments in the game that hurt us.

“So for the second half, during halftime I asked the players, first to stay wide; second, when they [Zimbabwe] recycled the ball that we immediately go to the ball. In the first half we went back and we gave the space to Zimbabwe.

“That was the difference in the second half. We played wide more, we used the wings, we played behind the defence of Zimbabwe more and once they recycled the ball we were immediately on the ball. So they couldn’t do what they did in the first half.

“And that, from my team, was very good in the second half.”

Iqraam Rayners gave Bafana the lead after 35 seconds before Tawanda Chirewa equalised almost immediately in the second minute. Morena’s brace came in the 55th and 76th minutes.