Bafana in the dwang

Khune and co have return leg in Durban to keep dream alive

at Stade Omnisport de Limbe SHAKES Mashaba’s men need to win their remaining three matches and hope for favours in order to keep their dream of reaching Gabon 2017 a reality.

After twice taking the lead through striker Tokelo Rantie and Hlompho Kekana’s wonder strike from inside his own half, Bafana Bafana allowed the Indomitable Lions to claw their way back into the match and snatch a draw that took them to seven points atop Group M.

Bafana moved to third with two points, behind secondplaced Mauritania who beat the Gambia 2-1 on Friday night.

The brilliance of Kekana was overshadowed by Bafana’s inability to hold on to a lead here yesterday, as pressure mounted on Mashaba’s team in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Bafana have done badly in these qualifiers, their two points a paltry return compared to the seven they were on in the 2015 Afcon qualifiers at this stage.

They know what areas need to be worked on to make sure they don’t slip up against the same team in Durban on Tuesday.

Bafana gave Cameroon far too much space in central midfield, gave away too many set pieces in dangerous areas and they did not always defend the free kicks well. Mashaba has hopefully taken notes and will address these problems before Tuesday.

His men were looking to spoil the party at the opening of the new stadium in Limbe, but had to settle for a point even though they had better chances.

Eager to please their supporters who came as early as 11am to the stadium, Cameroon piled pressure on Bafana, using the centre of midfield and the right flank to attack the opposition.

The Indomitable Lions were, however, robbed of their early dominance by Rantie in the 17th minute.

Rantie, an outcast at Premier League club Bournemouth, proved just why Mashaba keeps selecting him, with a good goal. After receiving a good pass from Mpho Makola he kept his cool and rounded Cameroon keeper Assembe Ndy before slotting into an empty net.

Bafana were under siege after taking the lead and they made life difficult for themselves by conceding set pieces outside the box. Cameroon kept sending out warnings with these but would instead score from open play.

The four-time African champions scored when Bafana had 10 men on the field, after right back Anele Ngcongca was stretchered off with an injury and needed to be substituted.

Mashaba quickly called for young Ajax Cape Town defender Rivaldo Coetzee to get kitted, but he was furious when referee Weyesa Bamlaku Tessema told the fourth official to wait before the substitution was made.

No less than 10 seconds after Mashaba complained to the fourth official about the delay, Cameroon equalised. Sebestian Siani, a teammate of Andile Jali at KV Oostende in Belgium, was given space in the middle of the park and the midfielder unleashed a shot which gave Itumeleng Khune no chance.

Mashaba confronted the referee and the fourth official for about a minute before walking into the tunnel to have a chat with his players who had their heads down when the whistle for half time was blown.

It was important that he get them to come back for the second half with confidence because they had a good chance of winning the match.

It’s exactly what Mashaba did, as Bafana restored their lead five minutes into the second period with a stupendous Kekana strike. He spotted Ndy off his line and boldly took a shot from his own half which ended up in the back of the net. Jaws dropped, the home team’s fans had their hands on their heads while others just applauded the brilliance of Kekana.

All the Bafana players got off the bench to celebrate with Kekana in front of the home team’s fans.

After the hour mark, however, Cameroon were back on level terms and they finally got one from a set piece. Defender Nicolas Nkoulou got his head on to a free kick and there was huge relief because the home fans did not want their team to lose on the day they opened a stadium.

The Bafana defence looked shaky for most parts and struggled to deal with the strength of Cameroonian players during set pieces. It was no surprise they conceded like that.

Khune and company need to improve if they are to beat Cameroon on Tuesday.