South Africa shot themselves in the foot as they exited the African Nations Championship in heart-breaking fashion following a draw against Uganda, according to a Ugandan player agent.
Bafana came back from a goal down to score three goals but faltered in the final moments by conceding two penalties, allowing tournament co-hosts Uganda to draw level.
This result led to elimination from the tournament for Molefi Ntseki's charge.
"South Africa failed to defend effectively in the last minutes. Bafana Bafana have themselves to blame for throwing away a comfortable win. Uganda brought on two more lethal strikers, putting immense pressure on them," says Paul Mujuni.
"Bafana threw away a comfortable lead by defending too deep in the last minutes. There was no need to panic. Rama's (Ramahlwe Mphahlele) injury was another factor that impacted Bafana's performance.
"Uganda introduced experienced strikers Yunus Ssentamu and Ivan Ahibisibwe, which increased the pressure significantly. They needed experienced defenders, especially after Rama was substituted. Uganda desperately needed a draw, so they threw everything forward, and thankfully for them, it paid off.
"Once again, Coach Molefi made a mistake by underestimating Niger. He should have fielded a stronger team that had already faced Algeria, Guinea, and now Uganda. By not winning against Niger, it complicated matters, and playing for a win against Uganda at home was a big risk," he continued.
Mujuni also had positive things to say about Bafana's performance in the tournament.
"The players did their best. It’s on record that Bafana has never lost a game at Nelson Mandela Stadium. I believe Bafana is a good team, but they didn’t have enough preparation time compared to Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, who are leading their respective groups.
"It's unfortunate that they are out of the tournament. This is a talented mix of young and experienced players. With limited preparation, half of the team were unattached players, yet they managed to compete with countries that prepared a month in advance.
"These teams released their best players for the tournament. What more could we expect from the South African team? Of course, the story would have been different if South African clubs had released their top talent.
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"However, football isn’t measured solely by that; it's about having the right and available players for the tournament. We’ve seen countries like Algeria, despite having their best players in the league, struggle at tournaments, even though they boast one of the best leagues on the continent.
"I believe these South African players are far from finished; they have shown that they can compete with the best.
"The challenge in South Africa is that when a player turns 30, they are often deemed finished. However, that is a misguided mentality. When you develop a young player, they need to learn from the experienced ones," added Mujuni.
