Sports

Bafana Bafana Coach, Hugo Broos lambasts players after draw with Eswatini

Published

7 months ago

October 14, 2023

South Africa’s senior national team coach, Hugo Broos, on Saturday, blasted his players after their disappointing 0-0 draw with minnows, Eswatini on Friday.

The Bafana Bafana were lackluster as they laboured to hold the more enterprising Eswatini team whose youthful energy threatened to undo anything the South African team had to offer.

At the end of the encounter, Broos said his team showed no passion and fighting spirit as the match was the team’s worst performance since he took over in 2021.

“There were many feelings that I went through during and after the game,” Broos said while speaking to journalists.

“Those of frustration and anger because I didn’t believe what I saw in the first and second half. I think in the first half we had one chance to score and I am saying this with all respect to Eswatini.

“We were lucky that we played against a team of that level, otherwise it could have been a disaster. I didn’t recognise my team and I had to make changes during halftime hoping things will be better.

“We were not playing 90 minutes on the same low level. It’s unbelievable because three months ago we saw this team play good against Morocco. It’s unbelievable that four or five months ago we saw this team play against Liberia,” the bitter Broos lamented.

“You can’t believe your eyes where you saw them against Eswatini. There was no passion, we lost nearly every duel, we played far from our opponents and we were lucky they didn’t score because that could have been a disaster.

“I said to the boys they must look in the mirror and ask themselves what went wrong. There are many things that went wrong in this game and let’s hope that it is a wake-up call for everyone.

“You can’t ask people to come to the stadium to watch that type of football. You have to win the crowd and you don’t do it with a performance like we showed Eswatini.”

Related Topics:Eswatini Featured Hugo Brood South Africa

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Sports

Al Ahly, Esperance to clash in CAF Champions League final

Published

13 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Two of Africa’s club giants, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Esperance of Tunisia, will do battle next month over two legs for the right to be crowned champions of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Title-holders Al Ahly and their long-standing rivals Esperance both booked their places in the final with dramatic semi-final victories over DR Congo”s TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa respectively on Friday night.

While Al Ahly, winners of five of the last seven editions of the continent’s top draw tournament, with a record 11 in total, overcame TP Mazembe with a 3-0 aggregate victory in the semi-final second leg after a goalless first leg last Saturday, Esperance surprised Sundowns with a 1-0 victory in Pretoria to wrap up a 2-0 aggregate win.

The two-legged final will mark the third encounter between Ahly and Esperance in the Champions League final, with the Egyptians winning in 2012 and the Tunisians triumphing in 2018.

In 2023, the two clubs clashed in the semi-finals with Ahly emerging victorious home and away, securing a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

Esperance who are aiming for a fifth Champions League title, will host the first leg in Rades on May 18, with the return fixture scheduled in Cairo seven days later.

Sports

Former Zambian captain Rainford Kalaba discharged from hospital after near-fatal accident

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Former Zambian national team captain, Rainford Kalaba, has been discharged from hospital weeks after he was involved in a near-fatal accident where he sustained serious injuries.

The accident which involved a head-on collision between a Mercedes-Benz car in which Kalaba was in, and a truck, had initially sparked fears for his life and has since been in the Intensive Care Unit of the Zambian University Teaching Hospital (UTH).

The good news on the footballer’s progress was released by the UTH Public Relations Officer, Nzeba Chanda, who informed that the Chipolopolo legend has been discharged after showing positive signs of recovery.

“Mr. Rainford Kalaba has been discharged from the UTH-Adult where he was admitted after being involved in a road traffic accident two weeks ago,” Chanda said, adding that Kalaba will continue his recovery at his family home.

According to local media reports, the 37-year-old was a passenger in a Mercedes Benz when it collided with an oncoming truck in the south-eastern Zambian town of Kafue a week and five days ago.

In his active playing days, Kalaba spent the majority of his club career at TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, winning the CAF Champions League with the club in 2015 and the CAF Confederation Cup in 2016.

He also had a spell with clubsides in Portugal including FC Braga, and was a major part of the Zambian squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 under Frenchman, Herve Renard.