Bafana Bafana led three times in the game before finally seeing off The Warriors, who missed several opportunities and hit the post in what turned out to be a fortunate evening in Marrakech for Broos’ side.
“We started very well, the circulation of the ball was good, until we scored the first goal (through Tshepang Moremi),” Broos said. “And then for one reason or another we made the same mistakes as in the previous games – bad passes, not taking the correct positions anymore.
“And then you give the opportunity to the opponent to be dangerous. If you see how the first goal is made, the guy (Tawanda Maswanhise) runs through three or four of our players without a tackle. If you go on defending like this, then you will concede goals every game. This has to stop.
“The same thing happened in the second half. We have control of the ball and score the goal (via Lyle Foster), and then suddenly we start to do things we don’t need to do.
“We can’t keep the ball anymore; we start again to play centrally, losing the ball and giving the opportunity to Zimbabwe to play in transition. We were in trouble again.
“OK, you can have attacking and offensive football, but you also have to think about defending. This is a problem for us. We have to put it right in the six days before our next game so we can again play for a clean sheet.
“That was one of our strongest points at the last AFCON, but now it is a weakness. We have to work on it. If we go on like this, it will be difficult to win against our next opponent.”
Bafana will only find out their Round of 16 opponents on Wednesday, as they will face the runners-up in Group F, which will be one of defending champions Ivory Coast, Cameroon or, less likely, Mozambique.
Broos’ side has yet to click, but they proved adept at navigating the knockout rounds two years ago when they claimed the bronze medal, only losing in the semifinals to Nigeria on penalties.
The Belgian coach says some of his players need a wake-up call and must raise their levels.
“I am not really happy with the performance or the way some players are acting on the pitch,” he said. “From the beginning of the tournament, we have to know that the progression we have made in the last two or three years is not a guarantee that we will win games.
“Now everybody knows what a good team we are, and the mindset of the opponent is totally different. We have to adapt to that. We will have to play every game at 100% of our talent and qualities. If we don’t do that, we will be in trouble.
“If we want to go far in this tournament, this is the mentality we need. And if we don’t, it will be finished very quickly.”
Burnley forward Foster scored his second goal in three games, having come in for some criticism ahead of the tournament, but Broos says if his striker is given the right service, he will score goals.
“You need support as a striker, and when there is none it becomes difficult. But when the movement around Lyle is good, then he can take advantage of that. He is strong and quick, and you can use him very well.
“In the beginning of the game it was good, then we started to play badly and it became difficult for him. The passes around him have to be better, the focus and concentration have to be better, and then he will score, always.”
Broos made a switch at halftime, bringing in Bathusi Aubaas for Yaya Sithole in the heart of midfield, and praised the substitute’s impact.
“Bathusi did very well when he came in. We had more pace on the ball, and his passing helped us a lot. Yaya was a little bit… he lost the ball too easily and took the wrong decisions.
“With Bathusi we had more security, both when we lost the ball and when we had it. He had a very good 45 minutes.”
Bafana’s Round of 16 match will be played in Rabat on Sunday.