Crunch calculators all you want – Bafana Bafana’s chances of going to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations following last night’s 0-0 home qualifying draw against Cameroon at Moses Mabhida Stadium are so slim only the fanatical would entertain them.
This is no classic Cameroon team. What kind of classic Indomitable Lions would concede a 2-2 home draw against Bafana Bafana, as Hugo Broos’s rebuilding Cameroon did in Limbe on Saturday, then come to South Africa to defend?
They are only top of the log because the only other continental power in Group M have been sleepwalking.
All the while their coach, Shakes Mashaba, admitting he did not research Gambia for an opening goalless draw here, was not aware Bafana would play on an artificial pitch in a
3-1 away defeat to Mauritania, and did not know until alerted by phone that Cameroon had appointed a new coach seven weeks ago.
It is not coincidence that sees Bafana bottom of the group on three points. It is negligence.
Sure, flying by the seat of your pants sometimes works. It did when a fired-up Mashaba inspired Bafana to qualification for the 2015 Afcon finals with pure snorting, emotional gusto. But when the pants come off, the result is not pretty.
Bafana need to win their remaining games against Gambia away and Mauritania at home, and hope Cameroon (on eight points) and second-placed Mauritania (seven) lose their remaining games.
Broos lined up with a cautious strategy. Two defensive midfielders, Marvin Matip and Sebastien Siani, sat in front of the defence in a flat four across the midfield. The Belgian coach had star striker Vincent Aboubakar back from suspension.
There was a sluggish feel to the evening, even as far as the disappointing turnout of supporters in Bafana’s renowned stronghold who only barely filled the bottom half of Moses Mabhida.
Two teams who had played a cracking match in 38ºC heat in Limbe four days previously struggled to lift themselves.
Broos’s formation meant his front-runners’ forays were often carried out singularly, rather than in groups pressurising the Bafana back four.
It was the South Africans who mounted the more organised attacks of the first half. In the third minute Sifiso Hlanti’s free-kick was curled dangerously to force a diving save from Lions goalkeeper Joseph Ondoa.
Just after half an hour Tokelo Rantie took the ball off Adolphe Teikeu and fed Thulani Serero into the area, the Ajax man attempting a return pass that Teikeu got a touch to, denying an almost certain opener.
In a sign of Mashaba’s at times disturbing lack of touch with reality, when Rantie had to be stretchered off in the 51st minute he was replaced by the decidedly average, completely not international class, Platinum Stars striker Ndumiso Mabena.
All the while FC Twente’s highly-rated Dutch-based star Kamohelo Mokotjo remained on the bench. If Bafana fans wanted a defining moment for when their already threadbare Nations Cup qualification chances went up in smoke, that must have been it.
Bafana now on tightrope ...
This is no classic Cameroon team. What kind of classic Indomitable Lions would concede a 2-2 home draw against Bafana Bafana, as Hugo Broos’s rebuilding Cameroon did in Limbe on Saturday, then come to South Africa to defend?
They are only top of the log because the only other continental power in Group M have been sleepwalking.
All the while their coach, Shakes Mashaba, admitting he did not research Gambia for an opening goalless draw here, was not aware Bafana would play on an artificial pitch in a
3-1 away defeat to Mauritania, and did not know until alerted by phone that Cameroon had appointed a new coach seven weeks ago.
It is not coincidence that sees Bafana bottom of the group on three points. It is negligence.
Sure, flying by the seat of your pants sometimes works. It did when a fired-up Mashaba inspired Bafana to qualification for the 2015 Afcon finals with pure snorting, emotional gusto. But when the pants come off, the result is not pretty.
Bafana need to win their remaining games against Gambia away and Mauritania at home, and hope Cameroon (on eight points) and second-placed Mauritania (seven) lose their remaining games.
Broos lined up with a cautious strategy. Two defensive midfielders, Marvin Matip and Sebastien Siani, sat in front of the defence in a flat four across the midfield. The Belgian coach had star striker Vincent Aboubakar back from suspension.
There was a sluggish feel to the evening, even as far as the disappointing turnout of supporters in Bafana’s renowned stronghold who only barely filled the bottom half of Moses Mabhida.
Two teams who had played a cracking match in 38ºC heat in Limbe four days previously struggled to lift themselves.
Broos’s formation meant his front-runners’ forays were often carried out singularly, rather than in groups pressurising the Bafana back four.
It was the South Africans who mounted the more organised attacks of the first half. In the third minute Sifiso Hlanti’s free-kick was curled dangerously to force a diving save from Lions goalkeeper Joseph Ondoa.
Just after half an hour Tokelo Rantie took the ball off Adolphe Teikeu and fed Thulani Serero into the area, the Ajax man attempting a return pass that Teikeu got a touch to, denying an almost certain opener.
In a sign of Mashaba’s at times disturbing lack of touch with reality, when Rantie had to be stretchered off in the 51st minute he was replaced by the decidedly average, completely not international class, Platinum Stars striker Ndumiso Mabena.
All the while FC Twente’s highly-rated Dutch-based star Kamohelo Mokotjo remained on the bench. If Bafana fans wanted a defining moment for when their already threadbare Nations Cup qualification chances went up in smoke, that must have been it.
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