Hugo Broos (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)

• Rwanda’s coach denied playing “kick-and-rush” football in their victory over Bafana.
• He said their aim was to deny Bafana space and opted for long balls and movement, which aided their dominance in the match.
• The win places Rwanda atop Group C, with Bafana in second. Nigeria, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Benin complete the standings.
• For more sports news, go to the News24 Sport front page.  

Rwanda head coach Torsten Spittler revealed that the game plan in their victory over Bafana Bafana was designed to prevent Hugo Broos’ charges from playing their ‘tiki-taka’ style of football.

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Rwanda shocked the South Africans with a 2-0 scoreline in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the at the Huye Stadium in Butare on Tuesday.

Under Broos’ guidance, Bafana have adopted a style of play reminiscent of Barcelona’s tiki-taka. This involves executing short passes, maintaining constant player movement, and skillfully controlling the ball as they attempt to navigate through different channels to retain possession.

Yet, circumstances on the day were not conducive to such a style, with the Huye Stadium’s synthetic pitch being waterlogged and lacking a drainage system.

READ | Bafana player ratings: Horrendous pitch aside, defensive woes echo as loudly as scoring struggles

While Broos acknowledged the defeat, he mentioned that Rwanda managed to disrupt his Bafana charges with their kick-and-rush football, which amounts to long-ball crosses, bypassing the midfield and placing pressure on the defence.

Spittler, however, had done his homework on how Bafana would approach the game, and the German-born coach’s tactical adjustments proved beneficial for the home side, while also taking conditions into consideration.

He challenged Broos’s assertion that Rwanda played kick-and-rush football, maintaining that it was a misrepresentation of their strategy.

“The main approach was that we wanted to play football, not kick-and-rush. So, somehow the weather made some problems because we couldn’t play football,” the 62-year-old coach revealed during his post-match press conference.

“The ground was totally wet, and if you passed the ball on the ground, the ball got stuck. We had to play some long balls, and this was not just kick-and-rush, it was movement before to create some space, and get the ball in the space, and run after the ball. So, this worked very well.

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“The first half was very good. We have not played South Africa before, and they have seen the results of last week. They did not know about us – how strong we are and how weak we are.

“The approach was to give them no space to play tiki-taka, to surprise them, because we are underdogs. And this worked very well, and there was also a little bit of luck.

“I told the players before, ‘don’t waste chances’. To make one touch and to get the ball down the ground. We deserved to win the first half.

“South Africa surely is a strong team, but we defended well in the second half because they didn’t really come through. It was a really deserved win.”

The win for Rwanda sees them take the lead in Group C, followed by second-placed Bafana. Nigeria are in third place, while Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Benin occupy the subsequent positions.