Bafana Bafana keep COSAFA Cup dream alive

by Staff Reporter

Sunday Jun 08, 2025. 13:00

Bafana Bafana returned to winning ways after defeating Zimbabwe 2-0 at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday in their second game of the 2025 COSAFA Cup.

South Africa sit second in group A on three points, one point behind Mozambique who defeated Bafana Bafana on Wednesday and played out a goalless draw against Mauritius at the Toyota Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts were the more dominant force in the first half and were rewarded before the break as Kabelo Dlamini opened the scoring in the 40th minute from the penalty spot, sending Zimbabwean goalkeeper Martin Mapisa in the wrong direction.

South Africa continued to create chances in the second half and doubled their lead in the 78th minute, as Ime Okon headed Gape Moralo’s cross into the back of the net.

The South African side’s coach Vela Khumalo was pleased with his team’s performance and the manner in which they responded after their loss to Mozambique.

“This is not a fluke, these are the things that we’ve done in the training sessions, where after our analysis we said this is how we are going to set things up, and we worked on it. It was not something coming out of nowhere,” said Khumalo after the match.

Bafana Bafana will need to win their final group game against Mauritius at the Dr Rantlai Petrus Stadium in Mangaung on Tuesday to have a chance of advancing to the competition’s knockout stage.

By Nic Gleeson