AFCON2023: Nigerian journalist rips into South Africa coach over excuses for Mali defeat

South Africa's football coach, Hugo Broos, at the press conference. (Photo Credit: Velile Mnyandu/X)

AFCON2023: Nigerian journalist rips into South Africa coach over excuses for Mali defeat

Izuchukwu Akawor 09:07 - 17.01.2024

The Nigerian journalist believes South Africa's manager was being clever by half after South Africa's embarrassing loss to Mali.

A leading Nigerian journalist has ripped into South Africa’s coach Hugo Broos after his excuses for their Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON2023, defeat to Mali. 

Solace Chukwu slammed the Belgian coach following claims that his Bafana Bafana struggled to match Mali physically in their 2-0 defeat. 

Mali vs South Africa: What happened

The Eagles of Mali proved they are one of the dark horses for the 34th AFCON after an excellent handling of South Africa in their AFCON2023 opener on Tuesday.

Per Pulse Sports, Fans at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium were treated to a phenomenal game of football as Mali taught their South African counterparts some lessons in the game.

Lassine Sinayoko celebrates against South Africa during the AFCON 2023 Group E opener
Lassine Sinayoko celebrates against South Africa during the AFCON 2023 Group E opener. (Photo Credit: CAF/X)

South Africa started well and had a penalty in the first half but failed to take their chances, with Egypt’s based Percy Tau missing the best of the opportunities from 12 yards.

In the second half, however, the Malians came out blazing hot, with two fantastic goals to seal the deal. 

Percy Tau missed a penalty for South Africa in the first half.
Percy Tau missed a penalty for South Africa in the first half. (Photo Credit: CAF/Twitter)

Hamari Traore, Mali’s skipper, opened the scoring after tucking a rebound from an excellent Sekou Koita freekick before Lassine Sinayoko wrapped up proceedings with a second goal six minutes later.

Hugo Broos slammed 

After the painful defeat, a visibly frustrated Broos spoke to the media where he had to explain what went wrong for his team against the Eagles.

Hugo Broos at a press conference recently (courtesy)

“South Africa doesn’t have the physical strength that the likes of Mali have,” the Belgian stated according to a post by SABC journalist Velile on X. “This is how we lost the second half and the game,” he added.

Nigerian journalist, Chukwu, was clearly not convinced by Broos’ excuses as he wasted no time to roast the Bafana Bafana boss.

“As the history of football has informed us, the key determinant in every match-up is the physicality of the respective competitors,” the Pulse Sports Senior Editor sarcastically quoted reply to the post. 

“Hate it when coaches try to be clever by half,” he added after a football fan replied to his initial post. 

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South Africa will be looking to get their AFCON2023 campaign back on track when they take on neighbours, Namibia, who made history against former champions Tunisia in their opener. 

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