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Mongomo - Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba believes that an injury to the young defender, Rivaldo Coetzee, was a big blow for South Africa following their losing start to the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Player ratings: Algeria v Bafana
Bafana suffered a 3-1 defeat to Algeria in their opening Group C clash at the Estadio de Mongomo on Monday night.
Thuso Phala opened the scoring for
Mashaba’s men after the interval before Faouzi Ghoulam, Islam Slimani and an
own goal by Thulani Hlatshwayo handed the Desert Foxes victory.
Mashaba hinted that Coetzee‘s forced substitution, early in the first half, cost his men dearly as they played most part of the game without a sweeper.
“I think it did affect us a lot at the back,” Mashaba told reporters in the post-match press conference.
“Without him in central defence hit us very hard.
“You could see that they started playing long balls behind us after he went off.
“Losing him really cost us, because if you look, we were playing without a sweeper for the most part of the game.
“We were always allowing them to come to us one on one.”
Bafana will be looking to redeem themselves when they face Senegal in their next match in Mongomo on Friday.
Kick-off is at 21:00 (SA time).
