South Africa coach Hugo Broos admitted being dissapointed but satisfied with the team’s 2-2 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualfying draw against Uganda at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
Uganda had thought that they were on the cusp of a famous victory in South Africa, but debutant Thalente Mbatha had other ideas and snatched the precious equaliser deep in the referee’s optional time to ensure a sharing of the spoils.
Bafana Bafana were in control in the first half and were rewarded when Lyle Foster beat Uganda goalkeeper Rashid Watenga to set the ball rolling in the 14th minute.
Coach Hugo Broos’ charges dominated proceedings during the period and should have increased their lead, such was their stranglehold on proceedings.
Man of the match Oswin Appollis was having the time of life leading the Uganda rearguard a merry dance and it was a surprise that the home side only had Foster’s 14th minute strike to show for their trouble.
Broos’ charges would rue those missed opportunities as Uganda scored two quick second-half goals from Denis Omedi and Rogers Mato, stunning the generous Orlando Stadium crowd.
Tension grew inside the stadium as the game went past the 90-minute mark and into the referee’s optional time. It was left up to Mbatha to break Uganda hearts and send Orlando Stadium into pandemonium.
“I’m sitting here with mixed feelings,” Broos said in the post-match press conference. “At the one side, very happy because we at least could have a draw. On the other side disappointed because couldn’t win the game.
“First half, we had some chances, we could’ve scored more than 1-0. But from the beginning I think it was clear that Uganda were much sharper than we were.
“That was something I was afraid of before the game. You see them come out of the dressing room, not sharp enough and in two, three minutes you’re 2-1 down.
“But the reaction after that and also the changes we made in the team made us come back to have that point that we needed today, which would a little bit a disaster if we had lost today.
“That point will give us a boost. I think for next Tuesday we have to review a little bit the things we will have to to and try to have a sharper team on the pitch than we had today because it wasn’t easy.
“The game of Uganda was simple, very aggressive when they lost the ball, then ball in front and players who were running and we didn’t really have an answer for that.”