Twenty-four hours after South Africa celebrated its cricket team’s historic achievement as the World Test Champions, at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, Bafana Bafana will be gearing up to chase COSAFA Cup glory in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
As fans bask in the glory of this notable cricket conquest, the spotlight now shifts from cricket to football. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana are playing Sunday’s final against defending champions Angola, who defeated Madagascar 4-1 in the other semi-final on Friday.
After Friday’s semi-final 3-1 win over Comoros, South Africa’s coach Vela Khumalo praised Bafana Bafana’s proactive strategy, emphasising the importance of setting the tone with an early goal.
Khumalo revealed that the team’s approach against Comoros was clear from the first whistle: get an early goal and set the tone. The plan was all about starting with energy and intent, applying pressure and making sure South Africa didn’t leave anything to chance.
“We said we are going to play with the (Number) two 10s. We are going to play with one top man (striker), and we wanted to end the goal leaks so that we can unsettle them and open them up,” said Khumalo.
“If you look at the teams that we have been playing against, they sit back and then they catch us on set-plays and start a (counter-attack) situation.
“So in this case, what we said was that let’s have a quick goal, let’s unsettle them, let’s play the ball behind them, but let’s draw them in because they were marking us tightly.
“Once we managed to draw them in, we attacked with our lone striker. It has worked for us, and I’m happy that we scored the goals that we needed this time around.”
With this victory, South Africa will face Angola, brimming with confidence from their performance against Comoros, as they set out to pursue the ultimate glory in front of their fans.
Bafana Bafana, currently ranked 10th in Africa and 56th globally, last won the COSAFA Cup in 2021 and are seeking their fourth title. Angola, the defending champions, will be looking to secure their fifth title.
