Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has hailed the performance of playmaker Themba Zwane in their 4-0 thumping of Namibia in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Zwane bagged a brace in their win over the Brave Warriors at Le Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly on Sunday evening which propels South Africa into a good position as they overturned the -2 goal difference to +2 ahead of facing Tunisia.
And it was the 34-year-old Zwane who played a crucial role in the win, with Percy Tau opening the scoring from the spot and Thapelo Maseko adding gloss to the finish with a late fourth in Korhogo.
“Maybe today was not the football of South Africa. We are a team who like to play football, but sometimes in the most difficult moments,” he said in the post-match press conference.
“I think the boys learned their lesson. We had a debriefing two days after the [Mali] game and we showed the things we shouldn’t do anymore.
“What’s wrong with kicking the ball in front, even if there is nobody when you are in trouble? There is nothing wrong with it.
“That’s what we did, maybe our football was more ‘realistic’ and I’m happy for that – that we know also it doesn’t always have to be nice football and good combination, technique and style – no!
“Sometimes you have to fight for it and kick the ball and you need the players who run after the ball.
“And that was today the case with the maestro in the midfield, Themba. We know, and I said it already several times, when Themba plays well the team plays good.
“We saw it today again. Even it was not really his football. Themba is the man with the combination but he knew were to go and we could always give the ball to him.
“If it wasn’t for him, over the two wings also, Percy and Thapelo, the guys who went deep and that hurt the defence of Namibia and again I’m very happy, not only about the result but also the way because this was not South African football.”
Zwane has scored nine goals in 39 senior international games since making his debut back in 2014.
