Bafana Bafana coach for the Cosafa Cup Morena Ramoreboli has pointed to his side’s inability to maintain fitness levels as the main reason behind their exit from the tournament.
The South African men's football side let slip a first-half lead and were eventually overcome by defending champions Zambia at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday.
The hosts began the match the brightest by controlling 63% of the ball possession in the first half and were duly rewarded when Tshegofatso Mabasa put them ahead just before the break.
The second stanza saw a revived Zambia emerge from the tunnel and Bafana just could not keep up with energy-sapping high intensity and eventually crumbled.
Bafana Bafana coach for the Cosafa Cup Morena Ramoreboli has suggested that his side’s lack of fitness cost them in their defeat to Zambia.
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Bafana qualified for the semi-finals by drawing with Namibia before beating Botswana and eSwatini to emerge as group winners.
While the Chipolopolo lost to Malawi before going on to defeat Comoros and Seychelles to make the final four as the best runner-up.
Ramoreboli believes the taxing and competitive nature of their group round took its toll on the players, giving Zambia an advantage in this crucial match.
“I think when you look at the games we played and the games they played, we had to fight in every game and obviously we used a lot of energy in those games,” he told the media after the match.
“As much as we can talk about the recovery and the rest in between, but a 90-minute match is different to what you do at training.”
He further added: “The results of the high-intensity matches we played, one could see that we no longer have the same energy and we could not change the team because you want to keep the team that is winning.”
“They played matches that were winnable for them and they finished those matches early while we had to fight until the last minute so we used a lot of energy in the previous games, and it showed in the second half and that's why they were able to get something.”
The experienced mentor had indicated during the tournament that one of his difficulties would be managing a squad of players who have been on the sidelines for their respective clubs or have barely had a preseason.
Bafana will have an opportunity to salvage a bit of pride on Sunday when they come up against the Flames of Malawi in the 3rd/4th place playoff at the King Zwelithini Stadium.
@ScribeSmiso
IOL Sport