De Sa defends Bafana’s AFCON performance

1996 Bafana Bafana AFCON-winning squad member Roger De Sa has weighed in on the team’s run at the ongoing continental showpiece, diverting from “popular opinion’.

- MIHLALI BALEKA

Bafana were eliminated from the event in the Last 16 on Sunday night after losing 2-1 to Cameroon at the Agdal Medina Stadium in Rabat.

That result stung for the team and their supporters as they arrived at the event full of confidence that they would emulate the ’96 class and surpass their third-place finish from the last edition in Ivory Coast.

After all, Hugo Broos and his men had done well in the past few months following the event in Ivory Coast, qualifying for AFCON without a loss and automatically securing their ticket to the World Cup finals in June for the first time in more than two decades.

However, most Bafana fans saw the early elimination coming. They stressed that the team wasn't at their best in the group stage after nervy wins over Angola and Zimbabwe, and a loss to Egypt. That's why the defeat to Cameroon also came as no surprise.