Former Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana midfielder, Doctor Khumalo, outlined several reasons behind South Africa’s defeat to Rwanda in Tuesday’s FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture in Butare.
Having beaten Benin 2-1 in last week’s group C qualifier in Durban, Bafana Bafana slipped to a 2-0 loss in Rwanda this week.
“If you’re wondering how they scored, how they tried to find their players in the final third, it was route one,” said Khumalo.
“What are these guys doing? Route one. In which department do we need to improve? The striking department.
“Which department were we supposed to add on? A striker – in our striking force because we need to pump balls to them.
📽️ 🅸🅲🆈🅼🅸 📽️
Bafana Bafana suffered a 2⃣➖0⃣ defeat in their 2026 World Cup Qualifiers match against Rwanda on Tuesday.#SABCSportFootball #2026WCQ pic.twitter.com/8EfQP5Cnvf
— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) November 22, 2023
“We don’t need jugglers in this game. We can’t play. We can see we can’t play.”
Khumalo echoed Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos’ dissatisfaction with conditions. The Huye stadium’s artificial stadium was waterlogged after a thunderstorm shortly before kickoff.
“We’re not saying the team played bad, but the footballing problems were not dealt with. We didn’t deal with the conditions of the field and the footballing problems,” he added.
“You need brave soldiers, you need brave players to interpret the situation without the coach telling you.”
