Khune addresses Bafana's defence after Mali defeat

Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has expressed his dissatisfaction with the defence following Bafana Bafana's 2-0 defeat to Mali.

South Africa's AFCON title ambitions suffered a major setback as goals from Mali's Hamari Traore and Lassine Sinayoki handed Mali three points to go top of Group E while Bafana slipped to the bottom.

READ | Tau responds to Bafana criticism

The first goal was a rebound from a free-kick initially saved by Bafana captain Ronwen Williams, however, none of his teammates reacted early enough to stop Traore from finishing a rebound at close range.

Khune, who is Bafana's most capped active footballer with 90 appearances for the national team, was left less than impressed by the lack of alertness.

The shot-stopper was serving as an analyst on SABC Sport's post-match analysis team on Tuesday evening.

"We have to give Ronwen credit for saving the ball, but the defence should know better that around these areas they should cover the keeper at any given time," Khune said.

"But again, depending on which angle and who is taking the free-kick, we should be able to communicate better regarding the man lying behind the wall.

"But maybe that is practice from training, that's what they decided they were going to do but we should have done better. At a national level, we should be doing better."

ALSO READ | Broos weighs in on Bafana's penalty drama

Meanwhile, Bafana head coach Hugo Broos blamed Tuesday's defeat on a first-half penalty miss by Percy Tau and failure to compete with Mali's physical presence.

Next for Bafana is a clash against neihbours Namibia on Sunday. Kick-off is at 22:00.

You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.

Click HERE to register!