Zimbabwe interim coach Jairos Tapera has admitted that his side were "punished" by Bafana Bafana following a 3-1 defeat in Bloemfontein on Tuesday night.
After losing to their South African neighbours last night, the Warriors remain winless in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, collecting just two points from their first four matches so far.
Zim's defeat to South African comes less than a week after they were also beaten by Lesotho at the Orlando Stadium last Friday.
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It was quite a one-sided contest in favour of Bafana, as they registered 26 shots at goal compared to their opponents' six attempts, whilst Hugo Broos' charges claimed 68% ball possession in the match.
The first goal for South Africa came in the first minute when Stellenbosch talisman Iqraam Rayners pounced on a mistake by a Zimbabwean defender to give the hosts the lead.
The second goal by Bafana would also come through another defensive mistake, with Zim goalkeeper Godfrey Chitsumba failing to take control of an Oswin Appollis cross into the box, leading to Thapelo Morena capitalising from close-range.
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The country's caretaker coach, Tapera, has now admitted that his side made sloppy errors, which cost them the match.
"We made our lives difficult in terms of defending," Tapera said, according to SABC Sport.
"Imagine, in the first minute through the central defender, he made a mistake and we conceded.
"We immediately scored an equaliser, stabilised everything and started doing well.
"We thought we might get the second goal, but a lapse in concentration saw us conceding for the second time.
"We were not marking tight in the box and they punished us.
"The third goal, it was through the middle again and we were punished."
Matchday five of the World Cup qualifiers will resume in March 2025, with Bafana taking on Lesotho at home and Benin away.
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