Bafana Bafana’s Mothobi Mvala, who was excellent in the emphatic victory away in Ethiopia, has spoken about coach Hugo Broos’ tactics on the day.
South Africa recorded a comfortable 3-1 win over Ethiopia on Saturday in the first of their two World Cup qualifiers this month, with Mvala being one of the goalscorers.
Teboho Mokoena and Evidence Makgopa got the other goals for the South Africans.
“They were giving us a hard time in the middle of the park and I think credit must go to Ronwen (Williams, the goalkeeper) for the saves in the first half. He kept us in the game,” Mvala told the media in his reaction of the win.
He went on to reveal what he believed was a tactical approach that worked from coach Hugo Broos.
“When we went into half-time, we changed things a little bit with the formation – putting Teboho and Brooks just in front of me and I stayed behind. I think it worked for us and we managed them very well and were able to then get goals. Our defending was very good as well as our set pieces. We knew that we had height advantage and we used it wisely,” the midfielder explained, and then further elaborating on his goal.
“In that moment, I was lucky. I don’t know what happened because in the first half, with the throw-ins, I was going near post and I then changed by mind and stayed behind. The goalkeeper came out, but then went back and at the time the ball was at my feet and I was alone to put it in the back of the net,” said Mvala.