Football legend Doctor Khumalo has explained why he believes head coach Hugo Broos got it wrong with the substitution of Themba Zwane during Bafana Bafana’s 3-3 draw against Algeria.
South Africa settled a 3-3 draw against The Desert Eagles at the Nelson Mandela in Algeria on Tuesday night as Themba Zwane struck twice before Elias Mokwana’s deflected shot went off Iqraam Rayners for a third.
READ | 'They didn't know how to deal with Zwane'
Meanwhile, Bafana’s goals were cancelled out by a Yassine Benzia brace and Yacine Brahim on the opposite side of the pitch to end the match all square.
Zwane was substituted in the 73rd minute for midfielder Goodman Mosele, a move Khumalo believes was incorrect.
"With the dominance of Mshshsi, Tebza and also the wing players, how then do you probably give Mshishi a break and then you bring in a defensive midfielder," Khumalo said.
"Because I would have loved to see Maswanganyi, like he said that maybe he is a possible candidate to take over from Themba.
"Let’s also introduce a player that has the same mentality, even if it can be 25% and Themba has 75% in terms of going forward, creativity, in terms of skill and also being comfortable on the ball.
"But as soon as you withdraw players that made us look good because we started to drop because you what you’re saying (bring in in defensive midfielder) is that now we are defending, that’s the message you send to players.
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"Then that confidence drops a bit. You saw Mokoena also drop a little bit, we just saw him in small phases, probably in the final third trying to counter and all those things but I would strongly like to believe that coach maybe he is saying 'Let me play most of the players because this is just a friendly and let me see what we have'.
"So, we need to give them credit. In Algeria, under those circumstances, packed out there. Now they know again that after the 96’ team, what it means to play against South Africa."
Bafana’s next test will come in the form of the Super Eagles who they meet in June for a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
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