Bafana at sea in Seychelles
No-one expected it but the reality is that Bafana Bafana were held to a goalless draw by the Seychelles in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier here on Tuesday.
Everything pointed to a Bafana win on the Indian Ocean island, but it was not to be, just four days after they beat the Pirates 6-0 at the FNB Stadium in Soweto.
The locals were predicting a Bafana win and even Seychelles coach Gavin Jeanne had the look of a man who had thrown in the towel before his team got on the field, telling the Sowetan that “you guys must take it easy on us”.
Not that anybody could blame him, because he did not even have enough substitutes on the bench, with six instead of the normal seven.
During the initial stages, the home crowd clapped when their players won the ball.
That is how much it meant for them to see their team show some willingness to fight.
The noise got louder as the match continued, with home fans realising their players were not just going to lie down and take a beating.
Bafana raised expectations with two corners in the first three minutes but struggled to create any real opportunities in the first half.
Soon it was forgotten that Seychelles’ warm-up drills resembled an amateur team just passing time.
Dino Ndlovu fired wide just after half an hour, but it was the home side’s Nigel Hoarem who threatened with a cross before the break.
However, Itumeleng Khune, making his 90th appearance for the national team, collected.
You could almost count the number of fans at the stadium, probably about 2,000, but the longer the match went without Seychelles conceding, the louder they sounded, bringing more confidence to their players.
Bafana’s Lebogang Mothiba failed to silence the crowd when his attempt crashed against the crossbar at the start of the second half from a cross by Ndlovu.
Mothiba could have redeemed himself moments later but shot tamely at the goalkeeper, Jerome Dingwall.
Substitute Aubrey Modiba fired wide on 69 minutes and Dean Furman’s shot was saved.
When Modiba missed with a header towards the end, the writing was on the wall.
And so it was that a nation ranked 189th in world football and with a population of under 100,000 managed a draw (as big as a win for them) against a country ranked 73rd.
If anything, this probably feels like a loss for SA and qualifying for the Afcon in Cameroon is no longer guaranteed.
And so it was that a nation ranked 189th in world football managed a draw (as big as a win for them) against a country ranked 73rd