Bafana Bafana playmaker Themba Zwane says he was pleased to finally score again and hailed the performance of the squad in the 1-1 draw against Ivory Coast.
South Africa, on the back of a 0-0 draw with eSwatini at FNB Stadium last Friday, held their own against a formidable Ivory Coast side in Abidjan.
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosts, bouyed by their home crowd at Le Stade Félix-Houphouët-Boigny come into the game high in confidence after dominating Morocco in their 1-1 draw three days prior, but were made to sweat against a resilient Bafana.
Zwane’s celebration was reminiscent of Jerry Sikhosana’s celebration when he scored the 1-0 winner against ASEC Mimosas in the 1995 CAF Champions League final at the same venue, but Zwane played down those comparisons.
“For me, I was just happy, I was just happy for myself because it’s been a while since I scored, so I was just happy and looking forward to scoring another goal,” Zwane said after the game in the mixed zone.
Zwane opened the scoring in the eighth minute before Sebastien Haller leveled matters after the hour mark and ‘Mshishi’ feels they created enough in the opening 45 minutes to perhaps have put the game to bed.
“I think the plan went according to the way we wanted. We tried to contain them and whenever they wanted to play those through passes, we tried to cut them and play through the counter,” he explained on their game plan.
“I think we created more chances and we should’ve taken them and settled the game as early as possible, but overall as a team, we did well.
“We definitely showed our quality, we were brave on the ball, and yeah we did well as team, we understand each other and for me personally – I’m happy with the team.”
Zwane and the six other Mamelodi Sundowns players now travel to Angola for the start of the inaugral Africa Football League campaign, where they face Petro de Luanda.
