{"id":46694,"date":"2026-01-04T23:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T23:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=46694"},"modified":"2026-01-04T23:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T23:10:23","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigngayton-mckenzie-blasts-bafana-bafanas-missed-chances-after-afcon-2025-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/04\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigngayton-mckenzie-blasts-bafana-bafanas-missed-chances-after-afcon-2025-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"Gayton McKenzie blasts Bafana Bafana\u2019s missed chances after Afcon 2025 exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_163752\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-163752\" class=\"wp-image-163752 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gayton-McKenzie-blasts-Bafana-Bafanas-missed-chances-after-Afcon-2025.jpg?resize=600%2C391&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gayton-McKenzie-blasts-Bafana-Bafanas-missed-chances-after-Afcon-2025.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Gayton-McKenzie-300x196.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-163752\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gayton McKenzie reacts to Bafana Bafana\u2019s defeat at AFCON 2025<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has reacted strongly to Bafana Bafana\u2019s elimination from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, criticising the team\u2019s wastefulness in front of goal following their 2\u20131 last-16 defeat to Cameroon on Sunday night.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s Afcon campaign came to an end in Rabat after Hugo Broos\u2019 side failed to capitalise on early dominance, squandering several clear scoring opportunities before being punished by a more clinical Cameroonian outfit.<\/p>\n<p>In a candid post on social media, McKenzie expressed frustration at Bafana Bafana\u2019s inability to convert chances, saying missed opportunities at that level were unacceptable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMissing a clear goal is understandable but missing multiple clear goals is inexcusable at this level,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The minister pointed to the opening stages of the match, where South Africa controlled proceedings and created chances that could have put the game beyond reach before halftime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c@BafanaBafana should have wrapped this game up in the first half,\u201d McKenzie added.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his criticism, McKenzie struck a supportive tone, reminding the squad that the nation remains behind them and urging the players to take lessons from the defeat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe still love you boys but learn from this cos you going to a bigger stage soon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Bafana Bafana had started brightly against Cameroon, with Lyle Foster, Relebohile Mofokeng and Samukele Kabini among those who failed to make the most of promising chances in the opening exchanges.<\/p>\n<p>Cameroon weathered the early pressure before asserting themselves and securing progression to the quarterfinals, where they will face hosts Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s exit extends their wait for a second Afcon title, with their only triumph coming in 1996. McKenzie\u2019s comments echoed the sentiments of many supporters, who were left frustrated by what might have been had Bafana Bafana shown greater composure in front of goal.<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Gayton #McKenzie #blasts #Bafana #Bafanas #missed #chances #Afcon #exit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Gayton McKenzie reacts to Bafana Bafana\u2019s defeat at AFCON 2025 Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46696,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46694\/revisions\/46696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}