Mali confident Bafana Bafana will qualify for AFCON

Sinesipho Mali says there is “no doubt” Bafana Bafana will be at the Africa Cup of Nations, praising the quality and development of the squad he worked with during several major campaigns.

Mali, formerly South Africa’s Head of Performance Analysis and now Head of Football Strategy at AmaZulu, was speaking at the University of Pretoria about the national team since leaving his role.

He departed after the 2026 FIFA World Cup and discussed the continuity under Hugo Broos’ successor, Pitso Mosimane.

Mali said he was proud of the players, having worked alongside them during two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, the World Cup and qualifying campaigns.

“It’s all the boys; we were together for many years. We were together in two AFCONs, the World Cup, and AFCON qualifying campaigns; there’s no doubt in the quality of those players,” he said.

He believes the squad’s progress reflects a wider rise in South African football, with the World Cup helping players secure opportunities abroad.

“All I can say is that I’m proud. They continue to show their class and level. South African talent is on a good rise at the moment, thanks to the World Cup. Now, we’re able to see our players taking bigger steps around the world,” Mali added.

“All I can say is that I’m proud of those boys, from the captain to the rest of them. There’s no doubt they will be at AFCON,” he said.

Mali also discussed the form of AmaZulu striker Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya, who has scored 10 goals during the first two months of the season.

The former Chippa United Sporting Director recalled watching Ngwenya at last year’s COSAFA tournament in Bloemfontein and believes the forward has a natural instinct for finding the net.

“He’s a scorer; if you watched COSAFA last year in Bloemfontein, he’s a scorer. He has a smell for goals. He is an unbelievable talent. We hope he stays injury-free and continues to help the club achieve its objectives,” Mali said.

Mali calls for a different approach to youth striker recruitment

After attending the Engen Champ of Champs tournament, Mali offered advice to scouts assessing attacking players at youth level.

He argued that recruitment should not focus only on whether a young striker is already scoring regularly, because football generally produces relatively few goals.

“I have different perspectives, and I’ve seen how people scout strikers. I’ve seen people scouting strikers and looking for a striker that can score, and football is a low-scoring game,” he said.

Mali suggested that scouts should instead use expected goals, or xG, to identify players who regularly reach promising scoring positions.

“So maybe the idea to look for a striker is to look for a striker with the highest xG (expected goals), the highest probability to score, from a recruitment point,” he explained.

He said technique and finishing could then be developed over time.

“Because you get an Under-15 coach saying ‘I’m looking for a striker that can score’ but football is a low-scoring game. So finding scoring strikers at youth level is difficult, so rather look for somebody with a higher probability of scoring and then refine the technique to help that person become a refined finished product that can score,” Mali added.