29 August 2022 – Coach Helman Mkhalele remains hopeful that his Bafana Bafana side can still turn things around despite a slow start in the second and final round of the CHAN qualifiers.

South Africa lost 0-2 to Angola in their first leg meeting at the Estadio de 11 Novembro yesterday, where they created plenty of scoring opportunities but lacked the needed luck to bury them.

Mkhalele stated that he was pleased with how his charges played with great intent towards goal despite of their lack of enough gametime in their respective clubs, adding that he is quite confident that they will be more lethal infront goal in the return leg.

The second leg between Bafana Bafana and the Palancas Negras will take place this Sunday at Orlando Stadium. Kick-off is at 15h00.

“I’m very proud of how my boys pushed themselves in this match, given the fact that most of them haven’t been getting enough gametime in their respective clubs,” Mkhalele said. “You could see that some of them, their legs were beginning to give in the later part of the game, as we continued pressing forward in search of goals.

“There are a whole lot of positives which I picked up from how we played, which gives me the hope that we can turn things around in the second leg,” Mkhalele added. “If Angola could score two goals in their own backyard, then I believe that we can score more goals in the return leg to win this round.

“We want to qualify for the 2023 CHAN tournament to be staged in Algeria.”