COSAFA Cup: Khumalo says Bafana Bafana players left behind their scoring boots

South Africa head coach at the 2025 COSAFA Cup, Vela Khumalo, has once again expressed his frustrations with his team’s poor finishing after Bafana Bafana were held to a barren draw by Mauritius on Tuesday.

The Kaizer Chiefs development team trainer suggested that his players did not bring their scoring boots to the tournament underway in Bloemfontein.

“What has always been the problem for us since the beginning of the tournament is not being clinical,” he told COSAFA media. “We are not scoring goals. We are creating chances, we create entries into the final third, we stretch them, we go inside, and we go in combinations, but one thing that we are not doing well is scoring goals. It has always been us not scoring goals.”

Khumalo attributed the impotence in front of the goal to the players’ inactivity since the Betway Premiership season is on break in South Africa.

“Our boys need to bring their scoring boots on….honestly speaking, when you are getting players from recess, it means they were closed and maybe they left behind their scoring boots,” he said.

The coach further saluted Mauritius for giving Bafana Bafana a tough time during the match.

“Let me start by congratulating our opponents, Mauritius. They gave us a good assignment to work on. We couldn’t break them. They played with a low block. They wanted to play from set-plays under situations where they wanted to hurt us and we were aware of that,” Khumalo added.

Despite not scoring enough goals, Bafana Bafana booked their place in the semifinals due to a better goal difference after tying on four points with Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

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