Bafana Bafana winger Thapelo Maseko has revealed what the team must improve on following a disappointing performance and result against Mexico.
South Africa suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of El Tri in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where the team was reduced to nine men after receiving two red cards.
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Bafana’s second match will be against the Czech Republic on Thursday at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, USA, with kick-off scheduled for 18:00.
Maseko noted that teams at this tournament play at an incredibly high intensity, adding that Bafana need to put more effort into their off-the-ball running.
“The one thing we have to improve is the intensity of the matches, the intensity of the matches is very high here,” said Maseko, per Mahlatse Mphahlele.
“It’s too much high-speed runs and the altitude [is high]. But yeah. That’s one thing that we must do, we need to run extra hard. We need to give, a little bit more effort.
“I was watching the game of Germany versus Curacao, 7-1 and yeah the intensity was very high, it was top, top level.”
Regarding the defeat against Mexico, he said. “The entire team was disappointed about the result, but we talked about it.”
“We want to improve as much as it’s a big tournament and there’s very big teams participating but we must showcase our talents.
“We must not let down the people of South Africa.”
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