Hlongwane left to fly South African flag in the USA

South African interest in the Major League Soccer playoffs is left only in Bongokhule Hlongwane of Minnesota United after Bradley Carnell’s Philadelphia Union were eliminated on Sunday.

Hlongwane is set to lead the attack for Minnesota in Monday’s playoff against San Diego, looking for a place in the Western Conference final.

The match in California is the last at the quarterfinal stage of the playoffs and the winner will go on to face Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday for a place in the MLS final on 6 December.

The Eastern Conference final this Sunday is between Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and New York City, who upset Carnell’s side on Sunday.

The former Bafana Bafana fullback, named Coach of the Season in the 2025 MLS season, had taken Philadelphia to top place in the standings in the regular season and his side were top seeds for the playoffs.

Although they came through Chicago Fire in the first round, Union came unstuck on Sunday at home to New York City. The lone goal of the contest came from the visitors as Maxi Moralez timed his run perfectly in the 27th minute to finish from a tight angle.

“So the fairy tale came to an end tonight,” said Carnell at his post-match press conference.

“I'm really proud of this group, uh, for the way they started the season, bit through the summer months, in the season, and gave us a gritty performance in the second half tonight.

“We know the first half wasn't our standard and it was a bit off. And we worked our way into the game and really made a push for it. I thought, we could have, should have got something out of the game. It's just unfortunate, they had an excellent goalkeeper between the sticks and it was not our night,” Carnell added.