Thapelo Morena: Hugo Broos Discloses Half Time Talk With Brace Hero in Zimbabwe Victory

• Thapelo Morena's second-half heroics gave South Africa an important win in their 2026 World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe
• South Africa coach, Hugo Broos, introduced Morena in the second half to exploit the spaces in the Zimbabwe defensive system
• Bafana Bafana are hoping to make a return to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since they hosted the event back in 2010

Hugo Broos' second-half change produced the desired result as South Africa defeated Zimbabwe 3-1 on June 11 to boost their 2026 World Cup qualification hopes.

The Belgium trainer replaced Elias Mokwana with Thapelo Morena at the start of the second half, with the latter going on to net a brace in the home win.

The qualifier victory saw South Africa climb to second place in Group C, with seven points, the same as leaders Rwanda after four matches.

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According to Broos, he gave Thapelo the simple task of looking for spaces in the Zimbabwe defence, which he executed perfectly.

"Well, Thapelo [Morena] did what I asked him during half-time. To look for spaces behind the defence," Broos said in his post-match interview, as quoted by iDiski Times.

"You see, the space was there; we used it very well, and Thapelo is very quick so he made a fantastic goal."

South Africa have been impressive in the June window, collecting four points from two matches while opening a four-point gap on group favourites, Nigeria.

The 2010 World Cup hosts will welcome Lesotho in their next game in March 2025 before travelling to Benin for their round six encounter, per Super Sports.

Broos praises Bafana Bafana players after Nigeria draw

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Broos praised his South Africa team for resilience in Nigeria during their 2026 World Cup qualifier against the Super Eagles.

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Bafana Bafana secured an important away draw in Uyo to keep their 2026 World Cup hopes alive as the Super Eagles' struggles in the qualifiers continued.

Mamelodi Sundowns forward, Themba Zwane, opened the scoring with an great strike, but the hosts levelled after the break through Fisayo Dele-Bashiru.