SECOND CHANCE IN THE CAPE: Bafana face Panama eyeing victory

South Africa will be determined to get back to winning ways when they face Panama in the second of two international friendlies, set for the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Kick-off is at 7:30pm CAT.

CURRENT FORM

The two teams played out a 1-1 draw on Friday night in Durban as Oswin Appollis’ strike cancelled out Yoel Bárcenas’ opener, extending Bafana Bafana’s winless run to two matches.

South Africa will be keen to return to winning ways and build momentum ahead of their final friendly fixtures expected in June, just before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where they will face Mexico, South Korea, and either Czechia or Denmark in Group A.

Panama, on the other hand, stretched their winless run to three matches with the draw against South Africa in Durban, following two draws and one defeat against Mexico.

Los Canaleros will also hope to bounce back to winning ways and build momentum ahead of their friendly against Brazil in May, before turning their attention to the World Cup, where they are scheduled to take on Ghana, England and Croatia in Group L.

TEAM NEWS

Hugo Broos is expected to make only minimal changes to the side that drew with Panama.

The South Africa coach is set to hand some minutes to Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Mbekezeli Mbokazi after they were rested in the first match due to their long journey from the USA.

Panama, meanwhile, could be without goalkeeper Luis Mejía and defender Eric Davis, with both players having picked up injuries during Friday’s game against Bafana Bafana.

The likes of Ismael Díaz, Kadir Barría and Amir Murillo are expected to get some game time under coach Thomas Christiansen after being unused substitutes in Durban.

WHAT WAS SAID?

South Africa head coach Hugo Broos

“There won’t be a lot of changes [on Tuesday], not at all. I know the Sundowns players have an overloaded programme, but okay, this isn’t my problem," Broos said.

“I just hope that on Tuesday we play the same game [like they played on Friday]. We played a game on a high level; we played good football, modern football, not only when we had the ball but also when we lost the ball.

"So I hope we can do that for the second time after the first game.”

Denmark head coach Thomas Christiansen

“We tried to do our best, the trip has been long, and the jet lag for many players. You can also see it as a physical game, but we have to analyse why it went as it went," Christiansen said.

"Defensively, we could’ve stood much better, and these are the things we have to correct. We knew exactly what we were finding here in South Africa – a technical team, very good with the ball. That was our problem; we didn’t defend these points.

“The good thing is that we have another game against the same team in a few days, where we can improve on what we should do better against them.”

HEAD-TO-HEAD

South Africa and Panama will be meeting for the third time on Tuesday.

Both previous encounters ended in a 1-1 draw, with Panama advancing on penalties after the first meeting in the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals.