On Bafana's World Cup qualifier win over Benin
In the win against Benin, we played well. Our performance was in patches and by that, I mean we didn't control the match from the beginning until the end. There were also lapses of concentration here and there. You could tell that when we play against teams that will study us very well, they will give us problems. In the first 10 to 15 minutes, we were losing balls in wrong areas of the field. We didn't have a connection and our passes were not crispy. We were in and out of the game, we were not flowing. If you are flowing, you need to flow from start to finish of the game. However, as the game developed, we got a little bit confident, which resulted in us scoring the second goal. But overall, I think they tried their best and did well. I was not clear with the system that they were playing, but going forward, we looked threatening. If you look at the previous game we played before this one (against Ivory Coast), we didn't attack a lot, but in this game against Benin we looked good in attack. The boys really showed that they wanted to play. What changed was (that) those individual players told themselves that they had to do well. Even though Ronwen (Williams) conceded that goal in the second half, I thought he controlled his defence very well. The only problem we have right now is that he is our only best goalkeeper. I know people will take this in a wrong way because I used to play for Mamelodi Sundowns, but the truth is besides Ronwen, we don't have another good goalkeeper. Other goalkeepers need to rise to the occasion.
Ronwen is playing too many games for his club and country in Africa and we need his experience. You cannot buy experience. I was also impressed by the defence, especially Khuliso Mudau. After winning back ball possession, it's important that we don't lose it. Mudau can win it and try to make those small passes which initiate attacks, and we need such players. We need to keep the ball more than we lose it. At centreback, the coach (Hugo Broos) started with Mothobi Mvala and Siyanda Xulu. Mvala was substituted and that, for me, was an indication that we don't have a good combination at the back. We don't have a solid centre-back partnership. I'm not blaming him for trying out different combinations because he wants to know who can fill in, in case of injuries.
On how we did going forward in that game
The midfield was impressive because they didn't play small passes in wrong areas. Going forward, we can't say we have good strikers, we still need to find someone who can give us goals consistently. Lyle Foster, who missed the matches due to mental health problems, is a deadly striker that we need in the national team. When Lyle is in the team, we have better chances of winning, but we need to develop other strikers. In South Africa, we have always had good strikers in the past and right now we are struggling. If we don't develop, we are going to have problems. The Bafana team I played in had Benni McCarthy, Daniel Mudau, Shaun Bartlett, Siyabonga Nomvethe and the late Phil Masinga. Those were good strikers.
On the shock loss to Rwanda on Tuesday
I don't know what happened in the loss against Rwanda because both goals came as a result of the mistakes we made at the back. I don't even know how we were playing because it looked like we were playing with three at the back. There was no cover for both goals and you can't play like that in a wet synthetic pitch. It would have been better if we drew the match 0-0, but we took Rwanda lightly (and thought) that we were going to beat them. I also thought Mvala was going to play because we needed someone to deal with aerial balls. Those guys are tall and you can't play with short players. The coach changed the centre-back combination of Xulu and Mvala from the previous game and I want to know his reasons for doing that. We took the match lightly, we thought that it was going to be a walk in a park … and it doesn't work like that. Someone needed to tell the coach that we haven't yet qualified and let's go with a strong team and see how far we can go. I'm not saying Nkosinathi Sibisi is not a strong defender, but you can't go to a synthetic pitch with a player that has never played in it before. Mvala has played in that kind of environment, why didn't the coach play him?
You can't change the defence, unless someone is injured or we are conceding goals. So, why did the coach change him? We packed the midfield and played with three strikers. So, our wing players were forced to go back because we were sloppy at the back. The way we played in the last 15 minutes is how we should have started. Where in the world would you change a winning combination? Was the coach experimenting away from home? I mean, come on! This is the national team, we can't play games. When Percy Tau had the ball up front, he was alone all the time, there were no other options. When you play Percy, you need other players next him so that he can have options. Against Rwanda, that didn't happen. All the players were far away from Percy. This is combinational football. When you play with someone, you need other attacking players next to him. And if we play like that against Nigeria, they will give us a hiding.
On facing the Super Eagles next, in June 2024
Nigeria drew two matches, against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and their next match will be against us. When Nigeria plays South Africa, that is like a cup final to them, and they will never want to lose to South Africa. They can drop points against any country, but I bet you, against Bafana Bafana they will up their performance. We shouldn't judge Nigeria based on their first two games, we must go to that match with a winning mentality and not be beaten by them. Nigeria has always been giving us problems from the time we were playing, they were beating us. Now we must prove to them that our league has grown.
Bennett Mnguni,
Former Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana midfielder
