Hugo Broos defends Veli Mothwa selection despite Bafana Bafana’s 2-2 AFCON qualifier draw with Uganda

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has defended his decision to start Veli Mothwa in goal during South Africa’s 2-2 draw against Uganda in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at Orlando Stadium on Friday.

With regular captain and first-choice goalkeeper Ronwen Williams sidelined by injury, Broos opted for Mothwa over SuperSport United’s Ricardo Goss and Orlando Pirates’ Sipho Chaine, despite Mothwa not having played a competitive match this season. The decision nearly proved costly, as Mothwa spilled Rogers Mato’s shot into his own net during the second half. Fortunately, Thalente Mbatha came off the bench to secure a late equaliser for Bafana.

While a home draw wasn’t the ideal start to their AFCON qualifying campaign, Broos chose not to focus on the mistake or dwell on what could have gone differently.

“This is something you can say now (about Mothwa), maybe you should have done this or that.” Broos told SABC Sport after the match.

“But maybe if we started with the team from the second half, and it was the same game, you would say ‘why do we not use the guys who normally play?’”

The Bafana head coach acknowledged that his team fatigued in the second half due to the limited match fitness of several players, as the Betway Premiership had only begun after the international break.

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