Bafana in desperate mode as they face Eswatini

After drawing their two matches in the Cosafa Cup, Bafana Bafana will be desperate for a win when they face Eswatini in their final group match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this afternoon (3pm) to secure a place in the semifinal.

Group A has been a group of draws with all four sides Mozambique, Botswana, SA and Eswatini sitting on two points, leaving the group wide open.

Mozambique and Botswana will face each other in the other match at Wolfson Stadium today at 3pm.

Victory for either team in the group will secure a place in the semifinal and Bafana will hope to be one of those teams.

Bafana started the campaign with a 1-1 against Mozambique before playing goalless with Botswana in their second match on Saturday and will be aiming for the victory today.

Should all these games end in draws again, goal difference could determine who makes the knockout stage.

Only Bafana and Mozambique have managed to find the back of the net and it was during their 1-1 draw in the opening match.

Eswatini after also playing to two draws in their matches are yet to find the back of the net in this tournament. They will be looking for their first goal and register a win against Bafana which will be enough to see them progress to the semifinal.

Bafana, who have new players in the team like Thabang Sibanyoni, Thabo Moloisane, Devine Titus, Antonio van Wyk, Ethan Brooks and captain Rushwin Dortley are struggling to click at the tournament.

Coach Helman Mkhalele hinted that he may make changes in the final match as he looks for a strong team that could see Bafana win and progress to the semifinals.

“Over the last few days, I wanted to see if my players would be in a good physical and emotional state and if I see those qualities at that particular moment, I will make that decision because we need our strongest players for that final match,” Mkhalele said.

Mkhalele could start both forwards Sibanyoni and Ashely Cupido as he looks for goals upfront.