Blow for Baxter as Bafana choke against Madagascar
Loss relegates SA to plate section
Bafana Bafana will roll out the excuses of missed chances and opponents who came to defend, but in the end their 4-3 Cosafa Cup defeat on penalties against Madagascar was just another in a long line of disappointing results.
Bafana had their best chances to kill off the game in the first half.
Madagascar, having kept a clean sheet, completely shut down any attempt to play in the second, where they spoiled effectively, clattering into clashes and clipping at heels.
Still, that’s the sort of impediment a Bafana side of this much promise needs to be able to overcome.
SA lacked urgency and composure as the chips were laid down in the second half.
All the South Africans’ neatness from a week’s preparation with this youthful combination was good for nothing as far as points on the board were concerned.
The hosts now, as they did last year in Rustenburg, suffer the ignominy of going into the plate section.
Bafana coach Stuart Baxter’s XI promised much, deployed in a 4-3-3 formation with the Maritzburg United trio of Fortune Makaringe behind Lebohang Maboe and Siphesihle Ndlovu in the middle. Up front there was a question mark, with Luther Singh on the left and Gift Motupa in the middle, but Ryan Moon seemingly wasted on the right.
Baxter put right his strange deployment up front when he brought on winger Abednigo Mosiatlhaga for Motupa to play on the right and moved Moon to centre-forward.
Still gelling, Bafana created three clear chances, though, frustratingly, never came close enough with any of them.
In the shootout, Motjeka Madisha, Foster, and Modiba’s spot-kicks were successful. Jamie Webber hit the post before Singh produced a weak effort that was saved.