The Bafana Bafana Thread

I'm back from the match, which ended 1-1. SA were behind from a Gaxa own goal, but we were saved by a great Mphela free kick in the 2nd half.

Bafana Bafana came back to force a 1-1 draw with Ivory Coast in an exciting Nelson Mandela Challenge clash that meant the two sides shared the trophy at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The Ivorians took the lead through an own-goal from substitute defender Siboniso Gaxa in the 36th minute after a defensive mix up that was instigated by midfielder Yaya Toure, who had powered his way into the box.

Striker Katlego Mphela equalised for South Africa in the 53rd minute with a trademark free-kick taken outside the box, stunningly landing on the right hand side corner of the post.

In the team’s first match since failing in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers last month, Bafana gave an impressive display against the star-studded Ivorians — who are also the continent’s best ranked team — in front of 23, 000 supporters at the picturesque venue.

Bafana — sporting a new national kit — had several top players back in Tsepo Masilela, with captain Steven Pienaar and Kagisho Dikgacoi back in midfield, while Ivory Coast included Kolo and Yaya Toure, and Gervinho in their starting line up.

The South Africans started the match off well even though they lost some offensive momentum when Masilela had to be replaced halfway through the first-half with right-footed Gaxa after picking up a suspected groin injury.

They nearly took the lead in the 15th minute when midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane slipped in a through ball for Mphela, whose attempt with his weaker left foot was easily deflected by goalkeeper Boubacar Barry in the visitors’ goal.

Morgan Gould snicked in a header after 30 minutes from a Siphiwe Tshababala free kick that drew another save from Barry before Mphela fluffed another opportunity shortly before the interval, after being supplied by Dikgacoi.

The Ivorians, who arrived two days before the match, provided their classy touches in patches, more especially the opening half where winger Seydou Doumba looked a threat.

Doumba drew a save from keeper Moeneeb Josephs in the early moments with the Bafana defence caught flat-footed.

After the hour mark and against the run of play, Josephs needed to make two blinding saves to deny efforts from Doumba and Gradel Max to keep his side in play.

Having being 1-0 down at half-time, Bafana came back with a spirited display in the second stanza as they created a host of chances, and managed to equalise seven minutes into the half.

They surged forward soon after in search of the the winner with Tshabalala shooting over the bar moments later after combining well with Pienaar.

Tshabalala probed the left flank with his final cross on the edge of the box, nearly forcing an own goal from defender Kolo Toure that would have seen the hosts take the lead.

With 12 minutes left to play, right-back Anele Ngcongca managed a cross to Mphela, who drew a save from Barry before Ngcongca was well tackled inside the box as he attempted to squeeze in the rebound.

A draw from this match ensured that Bafana maintained their unbeaten run against the West African nation since their first meeting back in 1994. They have won once and drawn the three other meetings.
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Times Live

The match was a bit of a mixed back. Pitso promised attacking football, but started with only Mphela up front. The team did have some nice attacking moves, especially in the 2nd half. There were quite a few defensive blunders, and not halving a 2nd left back continues to haunt us. The free kick was beautiful. Bafana, fought back to get the draw, I don't remember when last they came back from conceeding. They played for the win right until the end. The crowd, at 22 812, was small, but to be expected with the current attitude towards the team.

Overall, a decent match. Now to get a win against Zimbabwe.
 
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Good match, great atmosphere in the stadium . . . I'm glad I stopped off at Dischem for earplugs on the way though!
 
cr@zydude said:
Those last few minutes were great. Bafana were playing well and really pushing for the winner.
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The passing and positioning was good, Ivory coast players didn't really have much of a say esp the likes of Yaya Toure, Gerhvinio -> considering how well they play in the EPL.
 
hawker said:
The passing and positioning was good, Ivory coast players didn't really have much of a say esp the likes of Yaya Toure, Gerhvinio -> considering how well they play in the EPL.
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In the first few minutes I was worried that Bafana would get passed off the park. The Ivorians showed a much better game both in terms of individual ability and tactics.

The difference of course is that for the most part they play in Europe from their late teens.

The other problem was our players getting muscled off the ball early on. Dylon Claasen just couldn't stand up against them. Pienaar played like a soilder, having to keep going on and off to get a cut on his face fixed.

bwana said:
Good match, great atmosphere in the stadium . . . I'm glad I stopped off at Dischem for earplugs on the way though!
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The crowd really got into the game, I loved the noise level. I was bit worried considering the place was only half full, but the atmosphere was still great.

I wish SAFA would either play an intro or get someone to sing the national anthem though. Half the people didn't start singing until well into the anthem.

I'm also glad to see that Pitso says that he'll make a lot of changes to the team to play Zimbabwe. We need to see more players going forward. We need more cover for key players. We got shown up for not having a tested left back for the last few months.
 
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cr@zydude said:
The other problem was our players getting muscled off the ball early on. Dylon Claasen just couldn't stand up against them. Pienaar played like a soilder, having to keep going on and off to get a cut on his face fixed.
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I don't know about that Claasen gave as good as he got from what I saw. I clearly remember him giving Souleiman Bamba a klap on the back of the head at one stage.
 
bwana said:
I don't know about that Claasen gave as good as he got from what I saw. I clearly remember him giving Souleiman Bamba a klap on the back of the head at one stage.
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I didn't see that incident, but the ref seemed to let a hell of a lot of stuff go during the match. Maybe it was just me, besides, it's not like how physical our players are can be changed at this level.

Also does anyone know if tomorrow's friendly against Zimbabwe is being televised? It's a 8pm kick off, so it clashes with Generations. Plus I'm not seeing on the SABC shedule on their website.
 
bwana said:
I don't know about that Claasen gave as good as he got from what I saw. I clearly remember him giving Souleiman Bamba a klap on the back of the head at one stage.
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I saw that...but for the most part it was like a Chihuahua being involved in a tussle with a Great Dane :D
 
The SABC claim that they will show the match, but have their excuses lined up. They claim to be having problems setting up the equipment, and that the Zim broadcaster is not 'playig ball'. I'm on my phone so I can't post a link, the story is on kick off though.
 
cr@zydude said:
The SABC claim that they will show the match, but have their excuses lined up. They claim to be having problems setting up the equipment, and that the Zim broadcaster is not 'playig ball'. I'm on my phone so I can't post a link, the story is on kick off though.
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At least this time the equipment has arrived in Harare
 
Big surprise, safa have announced that they won't show the match live. They will show it delayed from 9, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Story on kick off.
 
cr@zydude said:
Big surprise, safa have announced that they won't show the match live. They will show it delayed from 9, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Story on kick off.
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You mean SABC ? They can't even show us a live game being played across the border! They always blame Sport 5 for away games so what is their excuse this time ? SABC is a big f#ckin joke...soapies taking preference over a live event again:twisted:.
 
Full story,
KickOff.com can confirm that the match between Zimbabwe and South Africa tonight will no longer be shown live on SABC, owing to "technical problems".

The public broadcaster's initial intention was to broadcast the match live from the Rufaro Stadium in Harare, as reported by KickOff.com on Monday.

However, as all South Africans suspected would happen, SABC have retreated and decided that it would be risky to flight the match live, because the SABC has not been able to secure a proper link.

Kick-off for the match is 8pm, but the SABC will only start an hour later.

"We will start broadcasting at 9pm on our platform. The reason is that we are having technical problems linking our equipment to the broadcaster there as I told you yesterday," Kaizer Kganyago, spokesperson for the SABC, says.

"Therefore, we are afraid that if we take the match live we may have hiccups in between so we have decided to record the first half and when they are going to the second half we will play the first half on our platform," Kganyago adds.
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The SABC is sinking to lows I didn't believe possible. Technical problems no doubt = Generations (trusty ol' cash cow).
 
JungleBoy said:
You mean SABC ? They can't even show us a live game being played across the border! They always blame Sport 5 for away games so what is their excuse this time ? SABC is a big f#ckin joke...soapies taking preference over a live event again:twisted:.
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Yeah I meant the sabc. What's sad is the apathy. Nothing gets done, and the fans suffer. We'll get some nice spin on Morning Live tomorrow.
 
Damn this is pathetic. But yet they cry if supersport have the rights. At least they professional!
 
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