Bafana coach backs Foster after he was booed by some fans for failing to convert penalty

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has thrown his support behind striker Lyle Foster, who was booed by a section of supporters after he failed to convert a penalty during the goalless draw against Nicaragua on Friday at Orlando Stadium.

Foster became a target of the boo-boys when his effort from the penalty spot hit the upright of Nicaragua goalkeeper Samuel Pineda after defender Enrique Espinoza brought down Kamogelo Sebelebele in the box just before the break.

Broos was looking for a performance with lots of goals against modest opposition who sit in position 131 on the Fifa rankings during their 2026 Fifa World Cup warm-up match at Orlando Stadium.

A good win was going to serve as a huge morale booster before the World Cup, where they have co-hosts Mexico, Czechia and South Korea in their group.

Speaking after the match, Broos said he will never blame a player for not converting a penalty.

“When we practise penalties at training, maybe two or three will miss, and Lyle is a good taker of penalties,” said Broos, urging Foster not to let the boos from some of the supporters get to him.

“In this game he didn’t score, and I will never blame a player for missing a penalty. Today fans are not happy with you, and tomorrow they kiss you.

“It is important for fans to support, but they react with their hearts, and football is emotional.”

Broos added that he was happy with the performance even though they fired blanks against a lowly ranked team.

“Maybe it will surprise you a bit when I say I am happy with the performance of the players even though the result is not what we expected.

“It was a difficult game against a negative opponent. I don’t know what those guys came to do here [South Africa] because it was just defending and kicking the ball to the front.

“That means we had to be patient and try to find spaces and opportunities. There were some opportunities in the second half, and if we had scored the penalty, maybe it was going to be a different game.

“We would have liked to have a good opponent who tries to play good football, but that was not the case today [Friday]. I am a bit disappointed with the opponent, but I am happy with the performance of my team and the new players.

“[Kamogelo] Sebelebele, [Olwethu] Makhanya had a good game, and [Thapelo] Maseko in the second half was good. This means we chose them and they deserve to be with the team.”

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