Bafana Bafana claim first CHAN win, eyes now on Niger

Bafana Bafana claimed their first victory at the African Nations Championship (CHAN), edging Guinea 2–1 to stay in contention for a place in the knockout stages.

The win moved South Africa up to third in Group C, keeping their unbeaten run intact after their 1–1 draw against Algeria in the tournament opener on Friday. 

They now trail group leaders and co-hosts Uganda by two points, although the Ugandans have played one game more. Algeria also sit on four points but are ahead of Bafana on goal difference.

Goals from Neo Maema and Thabiso Kutumela proved decisive, helping South Africa hold off a spirited Guinea side. Despite Moussa Camara’s 37th-minute equaliser, Bafana managed to weather the storm as fatigue began to set in among their largely unattached squad members.

Molefi Ntseki’s men now turn their focus to Friday’s clash against Niger at the Nelson Mandela National Stadium (kickoff 7pm). The West African side are bottom of the group, having lost both of their opening matches and are yet to register a point.

Reflecting on the result, Ntseki praised his side’s resilience, acknowledging that while they were under pressure at times, the key was getting the job done.

“You can tell how difficult it was, and how tough it was. But at the end of the day, Guinea played the game, and we scored the goals,” Ntseki said after the match.

“And what is important for us was to score the goals and win the game. We are very pleased with the result, but there is still a lot of work that we need to do going into the next match.

“As for Guinea, I think they came at us after we scored the first goal, which was a beautiful goal and worked out in line with our preparations.

“I also think the recovery period was a bit short for us especially when you look into the intensity of the last game we played.”

The former Kaizer Chiefs coach highlighted a few areas the team needs to work on ahead of their next encounter. The issue of the squad’s overall fitness continues to loom large, with only two days between their match against Niger on Friday and their final group fixture against tournament Uganda on Monday.

With a number of players lacking pre-season preparation—many of them currently unattached—Ntseki stressed the importance of recovery and better execution of tactics ahead of the next encounter.

“After 20 minutes you could see our energy levels were down,” Ntseki continued.

“As a result, you tend to drop deep, and give the opposition possession and that is what we did.

“Interms of our tactical approach, that was a moment for us to work on, to say that even if we don’t have the ball, let's work hard in front of goal, let us not allow the opponents to get into the box.

“We were also not compact in stopping in defending and stopping defense splitting passes that were coming from the midfielders into the strikers, there was too many gaps in between our players in defense, and the most important thing is for us to stay compact and close the passing lines.”

While they’ve had a tough but effective start to the tournament, Ntseki and his men will know that a good result against group strugglers Niger is just as important in edging them closer to the next round — but the points won’t come easy.