Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki was left happy when his men collected all three points against Sudan in their second Group C 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday afternoon.
Although they managed to score through Lebogang Phiri’s solitary strike at Orlando Stadium, Ntseki was not happy with their failure to convert their chances upfront.
Resulting from the win, Bafana now have three points on the board following their 2-0 defeat to Ghana on Thursday and Ntseki has welcomed the win.
“Congratulations to the boys and the team for getting the three points especially when you look at it in the second half, the legs were gone,” Ntseki told SABC Sport.
“We can understand why and that’s because of the travelling. I think they put up a very good fight and they tried during transition moments to get a goal and missing those chances.
“I think the chances we missed in the first half took a lot of energy from our players but I think we did well defensively in the first half, they didn’t play behind our defence.
“What we’ve seen with them (Sudan) is that they depend on switch play and play behind the defence. So, we dealt well with that situation.”
Although the 1996 African champions could not create chances against the Black Stars on Thursday night, the experienced manager was happy with their play to open up their opponents on Sunday.
“Firstly you compliment because you create chances, if there’s no movement and if there’s no commitment as well as a belief to create those chances,” he added.
“We compliment but what is important for us was composure especially when you’re about to finish because if you look at the first half we could have just tapped the ball in but we couldn’t.
“At half time, we told them we are creating chances, let’s be composed and pick the spot and get goals. I think what actually derailed our plan is that (Thapelo) Morena picked up an injury, (Thulani) Serero and remember Dean (Furman) played 90 minutes in Ghana and (Sifiso) Hlanti played 90 minutes, as well as the captain (Thulani Hlatshwayo).
“Part of the work was to be done on sides that is why we had to reserve Hlanti to be stable at the back and Furman to give us the balance.
"I think under the circumstances we did well and we got the three points we were looking for.”
