Bafana Bafana
F
ollowing the impressive
qualifying campaign,
Ephraim ‘Shakes’
Mashaba promised the
nation that Bafana Bafana
will come back home as the
champions of Africa. However,
Mashaba and his troops faiiled
to make it past the Group stages
despite their impressive play in
the tournament.
Bafana Bafana’s first match at
the Nations Cup resulted in a 3-1
defeat to Algeria. The second
match was also disappointing as
they failed to protect as Senegal
fought back for a share of spoils.
The last fixture also saw
Bafana take an early lead whih
they failed to protect as Ghana
went on to win the match 2-1.
This resulted confirmed the
Bafana Bafana’s exit in the
tournament. Now that they had a
bad AFCON campaign, Shakes
Mashaba and his players have to
put it all behind and prepare for
the upcoming FIFA World Cup
2018 Qualifiers and the AFCON
2017.Below are the key factors
which led to Bafana Bafana’s
early exit in the tournament.
Inexperienced players
Thulani Serero (left)
was not part of Shakes’
AFCON 2015, while
youngster Rivaldo
Coetzee (Right) was
part of the squad.
The key factor which led to the
South Africa’s premature exit in
the Africa Cup of Nations 2015 is
inexperience.Ephraim ‘Shakes’
Mashaba’s AFCON 2015 squad
consisted of mostly young and
inexperienced players who never
played in the AFCON tournament
before. Only three players,
Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Dean
Furman ans Bernard Parker had
played in the Nations
Cup before.
Despite the
impressive qualifying
campaign, the actual
tournament was too difficult
for the youngsters. Shakes
could have selected more
experienced players and
(perhaps) Bafana Bafana
would have performed
better in the tournament.
Failing to protect the lead
South Africa took the lead first
in all their three AFCON 2015
matches, but they ended up
losing the match or sharing points
with the opposition.
In the opening fixture against
the number 1 ranked team in
Africa, Algeria, Bafana Bafana
were in control of the match and
were rewarded in the 57th minute
when Thuso Phala found the
back of the from close range.
The North Africans, however,
capitalised from Bafana Bafana’s
mistakes and found the equaliser
and eventually went on to win the
match 3-1.
Shakes Mashaba’s men did
the same in their second Group C
16 AFCON 2015: The Review
match against
Senegal as
Boye scored
in the 73rd
minute to force
Bafana into a
1-all draw.
The last Group
C encounter saw
Bafana take an early
lead with a fine Mandla
Masango volley outside
the box. The Black Stars
exploited Bafana’s weak
defensive areas and found the
equaliser and Andre Ayew’s
(right) header in the 83rd minute
confirmed Bafana Bafana’s early
exit in the tournament.
Bafana Bafana’s AFCON
2015 results
19 January 2015
Algeria
3 (T Hlatshwayo
(OG) 67’, Ghoulam
72’, Slimani 83’)
South Africa 1 (Phala 51’)
23 January 2015
Senegal
1 (K Mbodji 60’)
South Africa 1 (O Manyisa 47’)
27 January 2015
South Africa 1 (M Masango 17’)
Ghana
2 (Boye 73’,
A. Ayew 83’)