POLL | Should Bafana Bafana be stopped from participating in tournaments?

As South Africans watched another loss by Bafana Bafana on Tuesday, many soccer fans seem to have lost faith in the national team.

South Africa suffered a 2-0 blow in their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) opening match against Mali at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo, Ivory Coast.

Coach Hugo Broos attributed the loss to Percy Tau’s early penalty miss and lack of physical strength. 

The first few minutes of the match seemed promising for Bafana, but their chances of winning were  squandered by the physicality of Mali after the restart, who scored two quick goals from captain Hamari Traore and Lassine Sinayoko in the 60th and 66th minutes.  

“I congratulate my team for the performance. We lost the game because of two facts. The first was missing the penalty and the second was the physical power of Mali in the second half,” Broos said as Bafana stayed at the bottom of group E. 

“Those were reasons that made us lose the game. It was not the performance of South Africa, which was good. If we scored that penalty it could have made the difference. 

Broos said Bafana has to win against Namibia on Sunday to keep alive their chances of staying in the tournament.

Some soccer fans on social media expressed disappointment in the team but said they were not surprised at the outcome, while others said they remained hopeful the national team would pick up their pace.