The recently-signed Augsburg forward has shared the secrets to South Africa’s impressive run
Benin striker Steve Mounie feels South Africa are benefiting greatly from having a lot of Mamelodi Sundowns players in the team.
Bafana Bafana have recorded impressive results in the last one year and reached the semi-final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, before finishing third, while they are second on their 2026 World Cup qualifying group with seven points, same as leaders Rwanda and Benin.
Munie, whose team faced the full force of Hugo Broos’ men last November has described how the Squirrels were shocked by Bafana Bafana in the match which South Africa won 2-1, thanks to first half goals from Percy Tau and Khuliso Mudau.
‘They can play in small spaces and that is what surprised us’
“South Africa have good players, everyone plays in Mamelodi Sundowns, or most of the players, so they know each other very well,” Munie, who scored a 70th minute consolation, told iDiski Times.
“They play small passes, they have periods [when] they can play in small spaces and that is what surprised us in the first half of the game but second half, we took the lead and woke up a little bit and stopped looking at them playing their short passes and that is what we need to do in the next game against South Africa.”
Benin have to find a way to stop South Africa in March 2025
Benin will next host South Africa in the World Cup qualifiers in March 2025 when Mounie and his team-mates hope to have found a formula to stop Bross’ juggernaut.
Mounie is in South Africa with his new team Augsburg, having joined the Bundesliga side this month, and will feature in the Mpumalanga Premier’s International Tournament 2024.
The first match was played on Saturday which saw Augsburg beat Tanzanian champions Yanga 2-1 and they will conclude their tour with a clash against PSL club TS Galaxy on July 27.
