Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was disappointed to finish the 2-0 loss to Mexico with ten men, but felt his team played well at times against the hosts in the opening game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were both shown straight red cards in the second half, while Mexico’s Cesar Montes also got marching orders in stoppage time.
“I think the first red card, I don’t think we have to say something about it, but the second red card, I think the Mexican player blocked my player, that happens, the referee decides something else,” Broos said on SABC after the game.
“So this is a little bit pity that we have to finish this game with nine players.”
“I think my team played a good game, some moments in the game, Mexico was even desperate,” he continued..
“They didn’t know how to find the spaces, so everything was good. The only thing that must be better in the next game is when we have the ball. That was not so good today, so we have to work on it.”
Broos said there was always pressure against the host, but he felt his team was coping, and it was just unfortunate to make the errors they did.
“Ja, okay, but you know when you played this game against the host, you are under pressure, and I think the only moment we were on the pressure was the first 20 minutes.
“After that, we had the ball, we played well, but again, two times a mistake from our side, two times on a moment we don’t have to lose the ball, we lost the ball and immediately there was space for Mexico, and they could score two times.”