Coach Hugo Broos disappointed after Bafana Bafana play to 1-1 draw with Jaimaica

South Africa chose to play the game behind closed doors
South Africa chose to play the game behind closed doorsYURI CORTEZ / AFP

Bafana Bafana played their final World Cup warm-up fixture against Jamaica behind closed doors, with the result only confirmed some eight hours after the final whistle as the game ended 1-1.

Lyle Foster netted in the first half for South Africa and a late equaliser from the Caribbean nation via Dwayne Atkinson, despite the fact many score apps have it as a 1-0 win for South Africa.

The game is not listed as a fixture by FIFA, making it likely it does not hold official status and therefore does not count towards world ranking points.

“The performance was not what I expected. I think we have to analyse the game very well and see what was really wrong and try to make it better in the next few days so that we are ready for the first game against Mexico,” Broos said.

“I thought we were close (to getting to where he wants the team to be before the opening match), but again, it was, for me, a disappointing game this afternoon. So, yes, I have to look at what went wrong. I think it was also a matter of mentality. We have to do more, much more, than what we did this afternoon to have good results in the World Cup in the next few weeks.”

The idea of playing the game behind closed doors allegedly came from Broos as he does not want to give Group A opponents Mexico any tactical or personnel knowledge ahead of the World Cup opener on Thursday.

What did the shape look like? Who started? Were there any injuries? Did injured left-back Aubrey Modiba get any minutes? These are all questions to which we have no answers at the moment.

The match was played at the Hidalgo Stadium in Pachuca, Mexico, so it is likely the hosts would have got someone into the venue in some capacity to do analysis work on Bafana, rendering the secrecy all a little pointless in any event.

There has been criticism from local journalists in Mexico of Bafana being a closed shop, doing no media, bar a FIFA-mandated open training session, away from the watching world.

Their argument is that, after 16 years, Bafana are finally back on the global stage and this is a chance to showcase themselves. There is some merit in that, though Broos may argue with some justification that they will do that during the tournament.

The result extends Bafana’s winless run heading into the World Cup to five games (D3 L2) since they beat Zimbabwe at the Africa Cup of Nations.

That poor form is in contrast to their Group A rivals Mexico, Czech Republic and South Korea, who have been racking up handsome wins in the last week.

But Jamaica coach Rudolph Speid also suggested the Bafana players were holding back in the game.

"I think they were playing within themselves, though, because probably, you know, players don’t want to get injured and everybody wants to impress the coach,” he said.

“I didn’t think they were going for it as much as they could have. But playing against Mexico in the Azteca Stadium (in the opening match of the World Cup), there’s going to be 123,000 screaming Mexicans in there, I can tell you.

"They’ll probably overload it, they’re going to be pressing high up the pitch, especially in the first half. They’re going to be pressing very high in the first half, relentless pressing, but of course, the pressure will ease as the game goes along.”