Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was delighted to come away from his side’s international friendly with the Ivory Coast with a 1-1 draw.
After a less than impressive showing in their goalless draw with Eswatini on Friday, Broos’ charges were far more competitive against the Africa Cup of Nations’ hosts.
Themba Zwane opened the scoring at the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Abidjan on nine minutes ahead of a 66th minute equaliser from Sebastien Haller.
Reflecting on the result, a “pleased” Broos explained that his team displayed the kind of strong mentality that means they are ready for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
He said in the Citizen: “As angry as I was on Friday, I am pleased today.
“South Africa played a very good game against a very good team. We had a good mentality on the pitch and we played good football, not only in defending, but sometimes in the way we attacked, we put the Ivory Coast in trouble.”
Broos added: “It is a pity we had a big chance in the second half and didn’t score, that would have been 2-0 and (from there) we should have won.
“But I said to the players ‘try and get a result but first put in a good performance’, and we put in a good performance.'”