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Iceland put the freeze on Bafana

Brad Morgan

14 October 2009

After going down by a goal to nil to Norway on the weekend, Bafana Bafana repeated that result against Iceland in a freezing Reykjavik on Tuesday evening. It was their seventh loss in their last eight matches.

The Icelanders are ranked 23 places below South Africa in the Fifa World Rankings, in 96th place, but despite this Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana opted to start two defensive midfielders: MacBeth Sibaya and Kagisho Dikgacoi.

During South Africa's run of defeats, it's a formation that has come in for some criticism, with a common consensus among many experts being that the team is playing too defensively. Only four goals scored in eight matches is proof of this. It is also proof that Bafana's finishing has been less than exemplary.

Benni McCarthy

Calls for the recall of striker Benni McCarthy have come from some big names, both in football and outside of the game. President Jacob Zuma said in September that Bafana needed him back. Ivory Coast superstar striker Didier Drogba has since added his voice to the pro-McCarthy ranks, as has Bafana Bafana striker Katlego Mphela.

Before the Iceland game, Hermann Hreidarsson, a teammate of SA captain Aaron Mokoena at Portsmouth, added his voice to the debate. Chatting to Kickoff.com, Hreidarsson said: "Benni is a handful to mark. He is a sharp attacker, and I'm surprised any national team would leave him behind."

With the World Cup less than a year away, the time for finding an answer to South Africa's goal-scoring problems is now. The question is, as it has been for a while now, is it time to turn to Benni McCarthy?

The importance of winning

What is most important is to win once again. The Fifa World Cup needs buy-in from the South African public. A good performance by Bafana Bafana in the tournament, it is generally agreed, is a must.

There was optimism after Bafana's encouraging performances during the Confederations Cup in June, but that seems a long time ago now and that optimism needs to be raised once more.

In Reykjavik on Tuesday, Santana made a number of changes, bringing S'thembiso Ngcobo, Richard Henyekane, Lucas Thwala, Franklin Cale and Siyabonga Sangweni into the starting line-up. Unfortunately for the SA team, it didn't change their fortunes.

Iceland match

With a spare crowd in attendance because of the frigid conditions, Bafana Bafana started out well enough, passing the ball around decently, and a shot early on by Sibaya tested the goalkeeper after it took an awkward bounce.

It took Iceland 20 minutes before they managed their first chance, but SA goalie Moneeb Josephs stopped the home side after a dangerous flick-on towards the South African goals.

During the first half, Richard Henyekane had a number of half-chances, forcing one fine save out of Árni Gautur in the Iceland goals. Cale, meanwhile, provided some spark for Bafana. Despite his efforts, however, neither side managed to find cohesion in midfield as they went into the break tied at nil-nil.

Second half

Santana made six changes for the second half, but it didn't take Iceland long to find the back of the net after the restart; Veigar Pall Gunnarson broke the deadlock five minutes into the second stanza.

Josephs had denied him moments earlier with a sharp save from a header, but Gunnarson picked up a clearance by SA skipper Mokoena and beat Josephs a short while later with a curling shot from the just outside the area.

Near the end, Bafana Bafana came desperately close to snatching an equaliser when an attempted clearance by an Iceland defender hit Mphela with the goalkeeper stranded. However, the ball deflected narrowly over the top of the crossbar.

It left the South African team without a goal in its last two matches, and with only one in its last five matches, in a one-nil win over minnows Madagascar.