Broos must get approach right as Bafana have it all to play for against Czechia

Bafana Bafana were welcomed by rainy weather when they arrived in the US state of Georgia on Tuesday for their World Cup clash against Czechia at Atlanta Stadium on Thursday.

South Africa are under pressure to get something positive from the match and refresh their campaign after a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Mexico in the tournament’s opening match, but it’s not going to be easy against the physically imposing Europeans.

Czechia have problems of their own because they lost their opening match 2-1 to South Korea in Monterrey, Mexico, and a win here in Atlanta will also be top of their agenda to stay in contention for the knockout stage.

Group A is taking shape and it will be clearer who is in line for a place in the last 32 after the teams have all played two matches with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Korea in Guadalajara on Thursday (Friday 3am SA time).

Bafana go into Thursday’s clash without suspended Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane, both red-carded against Mexico. This leaves coach Hugo Broos thin in the midfield but their absence opens an opportunity for exciting Relebohile Mofokeng.

South Africa are also in a lean patch as they have gone six matches without a win (drawn three, lost three) and are desperate to get back to winning ways.

Some of the swagger from winning the bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ivory Coast in 2024, then setting off on a long unbeaten run that saw the team negotiate the past two years’ World Cup qualifiers with some confidence has been missing this year.

This may have affected Broos’ team in the opener against a tough Mexico, who are set up by coach Javier Aguirre to give precious little away. Broos’s strange, defensive tactical approach did not seem to help.

The South Africans have to guard against the aerial strength of Czechia, for whom seven of their past 14 World Cup goals (going back to the qualifiers) were scored through headers, including their only strike against South Korea.

Fifa’s first 48-team World Cup, expanded from 32, has unsurprisingly thrown up some mismatches. Bafana can take some encouragement that among the opening week results theirs was far from the worst and theoretically they have the toughest Group A game, on paper at least, behind them.

Goalkeeper Ricardo Goss defended Broos’s much-questioned plan in the opener, saying it was destabilised by conceding an early goal by Julián Quiñones in the ninth minute, after a defensive error by Sithole.

“The coach is the one who makes the calls. Had we equalised in that match against Mexico to make it 1-1, we would not be talking about the formation. The coach and analysts plan for games ahead and it’s up to them,” he said.

“I think the formation wasn’t bad at all. The way we conceded the first goal ‘killed’ us a bit. If we didn’t concede that goal, it was going to be 0-0 at half time and we were not going to talk about the formation.

“[Playing] two strikers showed the coach was positive.”

There have been calls for Broos to alter the formation and go back to basics with four defenders, two holding midfielders, a playmaker and two wingers and a striker.

This was what worked for the team in the qualifiers and there is a belief playing possession-based football can frustrate the physical nature of Czechia.

Rain is forecast in Atlanta for the next two days. Atlanta Stadium has a retractable roof that has been closed for midday games so whether it’s wet conditions or mid-summer heat (the game is at midday Atlanta time), those will not be a factor.