Former Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Mokoena has explained why he believes Bafana players need to show stronger character in the aftermath of a shock 2-0 defeat to Rwanda.
South Africa's bid for World Cup qualification suffered a setback thanks to goals from Innocent Nshuti and Gilbert Mugisha on a underwhelming synthetic and water-logged pitch at Huey Stadium on Tuesday.
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Although South Africa dominated the second half, they could not find a way back into the match.
Speaking on SABC Sport, the former Bafana centre-back expressed his dissatisfaction with urgency and leadership shown by Bafana players.
"I think it was game of two halves for Bafana, first half there was urgency, in the second-half you could see that although it's a bit late, they [Bafana) wanted it," Mokoena said.
"The start was poor, we have to be fair about that. The start was poor and to win in these games you need to get shots on target. You need to make, you need to force the goal keeper to save. You need to turn defence and that is not what Bafana have done and they know it.
"At times, I think it has to do with characters, there are players who can demand more from other players.
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"In our team (Bafana), I think we need a couple of players who can be able to do that. The captain (Williams) is right at the back. He is too far from the action at times but we need players who can be able to demand from other players.
"We really need those strong characters."
Next for Bafana is the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) set to kick-off in January 2024.
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