Broos flays CAF, Fifa over poor Rwanda pitch after Bafana loss

Bafana Bafana mentor Hugo Broos didn't want to use playing on a waterlogged artificial surface at Huye Stadium in Butare as an excuse for Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Rwanda in the World Cup qualifiers.

However, Broos challenged CAF and Fifa to be uncompromising on the venues to host matches of World Cup qualifiers, also bemoaning the fact that they still had to travel in a bus for three hours to Butare after landing in Kigali on Monday.

"It's unbelievable that a qualifier of the World Cup is played on such a pitch. It's impossible, but okay it is what it is. I think CAF and Fifa have to be stricter in the rules...where you are going to play,'' Broos said after the game.

"You are talking about the qualifiers for the biggest tournament of professional football, the World Cup, and then you have to play on such a pitch? Secondly, I think it's not normal when you arrive in a country that you still have to travel three hours by bus before you reach your final destination.

"[However] I will not say that these are the reasons we lost the game, no, not at all but I think those things have to change because we are in 2023. This pitch isn't for professional [soccer] ... but these are just remarks and they have nothing to do with the defeat."

From the word go, Bafana struggled to cope with playing on a sodden surface, hence they headed into halftime already two goals behind after defensive mistakes by Nkosinathi Sibisi and Khuliso Mudau led to Rwanda's goals. The goals were scored by Innocent Nshuti in the 12th minute and Gilbert Mugisha 10 minutes later.

The Bafana coach chalked up the defeat to failing to cope with Rwanda's "kick-and-rush" approach. "I think we lost the game in the first 25 minutes. We weren't ready for the kick-and-rush football of Rwanda. In the first 25 minutes, we gave away two presents...two goals. Our start was bad, and we paid the price with two goals,'' Broos insisted.

The outcome saw Rwanda dethrone Bafana at the summit of the Group C of the qualifiers, also ending SA’s 12-game unbeaten streak. Bafana will now shift focus to the Afcon finals in Ivory Coast in January, where they get their campaign underway by facing Mali on January 16.