Bafana coach Broos stays cagey on referee’s penalty call

Hugo Broos said he did not see the incident that led to the award of a controversial penalty for Ghana in their 1-0 Fifa World Cup qualifying victory over Bafana Bafana at the Cape Coast Stadium on Sunday.

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The result meant that Ghana, and not South Africa, topped Group G and reached the final round of qualifying for Qatar 2022.

The spot kick, awarded by Senegalese referee Maguetta Ndiaye, came in the 32nd minute when Daniel Amartey collapsed to the ground under little to no contact from Rushine De Reuck.

“It was very difficult to see from the bench, it was a corner and I don’t know what happened, suddenly Amartey was on the ground. I don’t know but I saw the players were surprised that the referee gave it,” said Broos immediately after the match.

No doubt, the Belgian would have seen the incident again before Bafana left for Johannesburg on Monday, and have been as incensed as the South African Football Association, who have said they will be writing to Fifa and Caf, asking for an investigation into Ndiaye and his assistants.

Broos did have a problem in the post-match press conference, meanwhile, with the general way in which Ndiaye had refereed the match.

“We played an opponent that was very aggressive and the referee allowed them to play like that, and allowed that less for us,” he added. “It was difficult for us to have a good result.”

Broos added that he was proud of his Bafana side, who led Group G for most of the campaign, only to be pipped by the Black Stars right at the death.

“Congratulations to Ghana, I am disappointed, but I am not disappointed with the performance and the effort the guys have put in in the last three months. We worked hard, it is a new team…so we must keep our heads up.

“The decision fell with one goal scored…no one before the qualifiers would have thought we would be first in the group with one game left to play. From that side I think we did a very good job.”

Bafana and Ghana finished level on 13 points in Group G, but Ghana went through by virtue of having scored seven goals in the group stages, to Bafana’s six.

The job would also have been far more difficult for Ghana if Bafana had managed to beat Zimbabwe by a bigger scoreline on Thursday.

“That was the only game we didn’t play at our level, and it is a pity, because if we had, we would have won by two or maybe three goals and would be in the next round,” added Broos.