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By Mahlatse Mphahlele in Pachuca, MexicoIt is Marrakesh all over again. During the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco, Bafana Bafana were in a similar spot of bother as they had to win their last match against Zimbabwe to guarantee passage to the next round. Coach Hugo Broos and his men are there again at the World Cup, but this time their fate is not entirely in their own hands, as they must beat South Korea in Monterrey on Thursday (3am, SA time). At the same time, they hope co-hosts Mexico, who have already qualified for the round of 32 after two wins, beat Czechia in their final match of Group A. Things are a little complicated for South Africa because if Czechia pull off a huge surprise and beat Mexico at the Azteca Stadium, they may leapfrog Bafana Bafana into the second automatic place. If Bafana draw against South Korea, they will need the Czechs to lose to Mexico to be able to finish above them on goal difference, but two points are unlikely to be enough to finish as one of the best third-placed sides. Whether they will pull off the much-needed win over South Korea, like they did against Zimbabwe at the Marrakesh Stadium, remains to be seen. The one thing about Bafana is they somehow like to do things the hard way, and have often produced unbelievable results when backed into a corner and this is another opportunity to silence the critics. Not many people believe they can go out there at the Monterrey Stadium and beat the fancied South Korean side and make history by qualifying for the next round. Something that can work in their favour is momentum from their impressive 1-1 draw with Czechia last week, where they ended the match on the front foot. They started the tournament with a stinker against Mexico, where coach Hugo Broos’ tactics backfired, but they came back strongly against Czechia to earn a vital point that kept them alive in the tournament. After that share of the spoils with Czechia, key players Teboho Mokoena, Jayden Adams and Thapelo Maseko said the good performance was a much-needed confidence booster. “Going into this crucial clash, the focus is on Broos and how he is going to balance the starting line-up, as he has to replace the suspended Mokoena.”The question is, does he go with continuity in formation, or does he change the starting line-up to counter South Korea, who differ from Czechia in style of play? If he goes with continuity in formation, he will stick with three defensive midfielders in Adams, Thalente Mbatha and the returning Sphephelo Sithole, who replaces Mokoena. In this formation, there is a high possibility that Relebohile Mofokeng will once again start on the bench and come on as an impact substitute, as he did against Czechia, where he added much-needed impetus. The other option Broos has is to start with Mofokeng, either as a winger or playmaker, but that means he will have to sacrifice one defensive midfielder or winger in Thapelo Maseko or Oswin Appollis. Bafana functioned better with Maseko and Appollis, who asked questions of the Czechia defenders when attacking opportunities arose, and their speed will be needed again in this match. Mokoena’s late penalty was won by Maseko, who was pressing ahead into the Czechia danger area, where he forced an opposition defender to handle the ball in the box. Mofokeng was lively and created some problems for Czechia after he came on for Adams as Broos went with Mokoena and Mbatha as defensive midfielders, and there are growing calls to start with him in this match. Another area where Broos has a tough decision to make is up front because he must choose who to start between Iqraam Rayners, Lyle Foster and Evidence Makgopa. In other areas like defence, Broos has no headaches as combinations are settled, and there is a strong case for continuity because there is no need to fix it when it is not broken. It is high stakes on Thursday morning, and don’t bet against Bafana getting the result because they have turned the tables when no one gave them a chance before.
