Hugo Broos encouraged by Bafana Bafana showing ahead of Cape Town rematch

South Africa dominated large spells of the encounter but were made to pay for a lack of cutting edge in front of goal, along with a costly defensive lapse in the first half.

It was Panama who struck first against the run of play when Yoel Barcenas opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, punishing the hosts after they had controlled proceedings and created several promising chances.

Bafana responded with intent after the break and were rewarded when Oswin Appollis levelled matters in the 48th minute with a powerful effort that left the goalkeeper with little chance.

"I think everybody can agree that we played a good game. We dominated Panama for 90 minutes and we only made two mistakes during the game. Their goal, we should have kicked that ball into the stands, but we wanted to do things in a nice way," said Broos after the match.

"I told the players during halftime that there is nothing wrong with kicking the ball into the stands when they are under pressure. The second chance was in the second half."

Despite continued pressure and a series of chances created, Bafana were unable to find the winning goal, with Panama managing to hold firm under sustained attacks.

The result leaves Broos satisfied with the overall performance, while highlighting areas that require improvement ahead of their next outing.

Bafana will now travel to Cape Town for their second clash against Panama at the DHL Stadium on Tuesday, where they will look to turn their dominance into a victory.