South Africa head coach Hugo Broos has revealed that he did not have a clear view of the decisive penalty incident the resulted in his team's demise.
Daniel Amartey was brought down in the first half by de Reuck. The resulting penalty was expertly converted by Andre Ayew, sending Ghana to the final round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
“It was very difficult to see from the bench, it was a corner and I don’t know what happened, suddenly Amartey was on the ground. I don’t know but I saw the players were surprised that the referee gave it,” said Broos immediately after the match.
“We played an opponent that was very aggressive and the referee allowed them to play like that, and allowed that less for us,” he added. “It was difficult for us to have a good result.”
“Congratulations to Ghana, I am disappointed, but I am not disappointed with the performance and the effort the guys have put in in the last three months. We worked hard, it is a new team…so we must keep our heads up.
“The decision fell with one goal scored…no one before the qualifiers would have thought we would be first in the group with one game left to play. From that side I think we did a very good job.”
South Africa will also miss out on the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.