Following South Africa’s narrow 1-0 defeat by Morocco in their final Africa Cup of Nations Group D encounter, DYLAN APPOLIS rates the individual performance of the Bafana Bafana players.
GK: Ronwen Williams 6/10
The SuperSport United shotstopper commanded his area, although he was well beaten by Achraf Hakimi’s powerful long-range shot which struck the woodwork. Fairly untroubled between the sticks, although he could do nothing to prevent Morocco from scoring the winner late in the second half.
RB: Thamsanqa Mkhize 7/10
Mkhize was one of Bafana’s standout performers on the day, giving his side options in defence as well as in attack. Although the Cape Town City captain was reserved in going forward in the first half, he came to life in the second by getting across the backline to make vital challenges while producing an effort at goal which sailed wide.
LB: Sfiso Hlanti 4/10
The South African left back was not at his best in defence and attack as he struggled to deliver the final ball into the box and a poor back pass nearly led to a goal for Morocco.
CB: Buhle Mkhwanazi 5/10
Mkhwanazi was solid in defence and did well to deal with any aerial threats in the box, but was beaten on a number of occasions despite Morocco not producing that many chances in the final third.
CB: Thulani Hlatshwayo 6/10
The Bafana skipper held his own in defence and did well to deal with balls in the air, although he could have done more to prevent Moubarak Boussoufa from scoring the winning goal.
CM: Kamohelo Mokotjo 4/10
Mokotjo had a below-par performance in the middle of the park and found it hard to dominate possession in the midfield.
CM: Bongani Zungu 4/10
Zungu delivered a shadow of his previous performance against Namibia and did not offer much in the middle of the park, failing to make an impression going forward.
RAM: Themba Zwane 5/10
Zwane failed to make any crucial impact in the final third, despite enjoying a decent amount of possession before he was substituted in the 75th minute.
LAM: Thulani Serero 5/10
Serero was not impressive in his first start in the competition and struggled to link up with the likes of Mothiba and Tau going forward.
ST: Lebo Mothiba 4/10
Mothiba had a disappointing performance up front and failed to make an impact in the final third before he was taken off in the 73rd minute.
ST: Percy Tau 6/10
Tau didn’t turn up on the day and failed to produce the goods for Bafana, although he came the closest to opening the scoring with his strike from outside the area which sailed inches wide of the target.
Substitutes:
Hlompho Kekana 3/10
Kekakane came on in the final 10 minutes to replace Zungu but was not afforded enough time to dominate the midfield.
Sbusiso Vilakazi 3/10
Vilakazi came on for Zwane in the final 15 minutes and could not whip in any cross into the box to pick out Veldwijk in the Morocco area.
Lars Veldwijk 4/10
Veldwijk came on with 17 minutes left to play and failed to make an impact. A lack of crosses into the box did not help as he could not settle into the match in his afforded time.
