6th September, 2010
Niger coach Harowna Doulla admits his team were outclassed following their 2-0 loss to South Africa in a 2012 AFCON qualifier on Saturday.
Bafana Bafana eased to victory at Nelspruit’s Mbombela Stadium thanks to goals by Katlego Mphela (12) and Bernard Parker (48).
And Doulla, who previously criticised Bafana’s “poor defenceâ€, was full of praises for Pitso Mosimane’s men after the match.
“Bafana Bafana were too good for us. The intention from our side was to make sure that Bafana don’t score against us and we were hoping to surprise them but they were too good,â€Â said Doulla.
“I think playing in the World Cup did South Africa a lot of good and perhaps we underestimated that. We struggled to put a team together, but South Africa are showing some continuation.â€
Doulla further revealed his reasons for using a defensive 4-5-1 formation on the night.
“We wanted to make sure that the Bafana strikers were frustrated while we searched for a surprise goal but the number 17 (Mphela) was a lot of trouble for us, because he is too fast and strong on the ball,†he said.
“The South African players are very skilful and you could see that we were outplayed in midfield, because they are just skilful.
“I have to say that South Africa played well in this match and deserved to win. We tried everything, like changing the tactics in the second half, but they were too good,†Doulla concluded.