The Burnley striker scored his first Bafana Bafana goal since November 2024 as South Africa drew 1-1 with Jamaica at Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca on Saturday – four days before their World Cup opener against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca.
Foster’s second-half goal gave Bafana the lead before Dwayne Atkinson equalised for Jamaica to deny South Africa a winning send-off. Hugo Broos made no attempt to hide his frustration afterwards.
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“The performance was not what I expected. It was a disappointing game. I think it was also a matter of mentality – we have to do more, much more, than what we did this afternoon to have good results at the World Cup,” the Belgian said.
Jamaica coach Rudolph Speid offered an alternative perspective – suggesting Bafana were deliberately holding back ahead of Thursday’s opener.
“I think they were playing within themselves. Players don’t want to get injured and everybody wants to impress the coach. I didn’t think they were going for it as much as they could have.”
Speid also issued a warning about what awaits Bafana at the Azteca.
“There’s going to be 123,000 screaming Mexicans in there. They’ll be pressing high and relentless in the first half.”
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
