Bafana’s opening Cosafa Cup effort pleases coach Helman Mkhalele

Seeing his players coming to grips with the way he wants them to play was pleasing for Bafana Bafana coach Helman Mkhalele despite them drawing 1-1 against Mozambique in the opening round of the Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup in Gqeberha on Wednesday evening.

In a tale of two halves, Bafana had full control of the opening stanza, creating numerous chances before finally breaking the deadlock through skipper Rushwin Dortley shortly before halftime.

Halftime substitute Chamito Alfandega levelled the contest with a long-range strike 10 minutes into the second half as Mozambique ramped up their attacking efforts and dominated most of the plays.

The stalemate, coupled with a draw in the day’s first match between Botswana and Eswatini, meant that all the teams in Group A have one point after the opening round.

“I would say I am happy for the team, for the performance they put up even though we did not get the result we would have wanted,” Mkhalele said.

“We dominated the first half and created clear chances but couldn’t take advantage of those situations.

“We went into the second half with the lead and I made the players aware that they will be coming at us, trying to play long balls, making those hard runs to stretch our defence.

“I think that is where we lost it, we were not compact enough, which allowed them spaces to run into and play forward passes. That is what ultimately led to their equaliser,” Mkhalele said.

Apart from wanting to achieve victory, Mkhalele wanted to see how well his players worked together given that they did not have much training time as a unit before the start of the tournament. 

“We must work on our defensive organisation because you saw they dominated the second half.

“They [Mozambique] had fresher legs in the second half and changed the tactics.

“But we still sat back in the middle and did not press forward early enough, and when you defend going backwards, you give them more space to advance into your half.

“We managed to correct it by bringing on fresher legs and overloading their box [when we were attacking], players who can defend but who can also quickly transition into attack when we win the ball back and play it forward. 

“It’s pleasing to see the boys starting to grasp how I want them to play, so looking ahead we will work on the corrections I have highlighted and improve as the tournament progresses,” he said.

Bafana’s next match is a crucial clash against Botswana in Kwazakhele on Saturday at 3pm as the competition’s second round of matches moves to the Isaac Wolfson Stadium. 

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