Bafana Bafana beat hosts Uganda 2-0 in an anti-climatic clash in their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group K qualifier, at the Mandela National Stadium, on Friday.
Starting off with a half of football to forget, neither side had a shot on target in the first 45 minutes in what was a particularly dull affair.
South Africa finally found their first shot on target, and with it the opening goal with the second half in its infancy. After a defensive blunder on the edge of the box, Uganda carelessly gave the ball away and Thapelo Morena was in the perfect position to slap the ball into the net and put his side ahead.
South Africa doubled their lead just before full time as Patrick Maswanganyi reeled off a good turn in the Uganda box, before firing off a powerful shot to put his side further ahead.
Dead rubber
Both teams had already qualified for Afcon with two games to spare, due to a favourable result between Congo and South Sudan on Thursday.
Hosts South Sudan beat Congo 3-2 in their Group K qualifier. As a result, the bottom-placed South Sudan ended the slim hopes Congo had of making it to the tournament in Morocco next year.
With the win, South Sudan moved to three points with one match left to play, while Congo remained on four after the same number of games. It meant that Uganda on 10 points, and South Africa on eight, could celebrate without even taking the field of play.
South Africa now though, hold top spot on 11 points and can secure a better seeding at Afcon if they also win their final qualifier against South Sudan on Tuesday in Cape Town.
Earlier this week, Bafana coach Hugo Broos, perhaps a tad flippantly, said he will resign if Bafana did not qualify for Afcon with two matches left in their campaign.
“It would be a little shame if we don’t qualify for [2025] Afcon. Honestly, we have the quality, we are bronze medalists,” Broos said on Monday in a press conference.
“Can you imagine that the bronze medal of nine months ago can’t even qualify for the next Afcon? So, I’m not thinking about that because again, my confidence is big in this team, but we can’t. We can’t accept if we shouldn’t be qualified for Afcon.
“If we lose both games, five minutes after the game I’m on the flight to Belgium. You can be sure of it,” Broos continued.
“If we can’t win, okay Uganda [away is tough], but at home against South Sudan, I tell you I’ll immediately take a flight, and you’ll never see me again.”
@Golfhackno1
Sport
