Hugo Broos has explained why Bafana Bafana stuck to their short-pass playing style despite poor weather and pitch conditions at Huye Stadium during a shock 2-0 defeat to Rwanda in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
South Africa fell behind as early as the 12th minute when Innocent Nshuti opened the scoring before Gilbert Mugisha added a second in the 28th minute.
Bafana offered an improved display in the second half but could not find the net against a defensively solid Rwanda side.
READ | Broos expresses concern over 'very very bad' conditions
Before the encounter, Broos had raised concerns over the poor synthetic field, describing it as 'like playing on the street' and was made worse by heavy rainfall, particularly in the first half.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Broos was asked why Bafana stuck to their traditional tiki-taka playing style and not opt for more aerial balls.
"We don't have the players to play that kind of football (areal balls), If I asked Rwanda to play like South Africa I don't think they could do it either," Broos explained.
"The coach chooses [a playing style] that is best for his team and your coach chose a good tactic today and we didn't have an answer for that in the first 25 minutes and after that, it was we that dominated the game and that should have been from the first minute.
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Broos was also unwilling to place any blame on his players.
"You know I'm not used to give comments on the performances of players and I will not do it either," the Belgian mentor added.
"You lose with eleven players and you in with eleven, so again we we were not ready for the game. In the first 20 minutes, we lost duels, we didn't have an answer for the kick-and-rush football from Rwanda and we gave them two presents, therefore we lost the game."
The defeat drops Bafana to second place in Group C for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. South Africa now turns their attention to the Africa Cup of Nations set to kick off in January 2024.
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