AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS
Africa Cup: Bafana's last chance
Zolile Mtshelwane
2 February 2004
South Africa's soccer team suffered a humiliating 4-0 drubbing by Nigeria on Saturday in their second African Cup of Nations group D game in Tunisia.
The loss has left Bafana Bafana's chances of progressing to the quarterfinals of the 16-nation biennial continental tournament hanging by a thread.
Even if Bafana beat Morocco on Wednesday, this will probably not be enough to secure them passage to the quarterfinals - unless the South Africans score in the region of four goals without conceding any, and Benin pulls off a massive upset by beating or drawing with Nigeria (the Benin vs Nigeria match takes place at the same time on Wednesday).
Morocco, moreover, will be no pushovers, even though South Africa has beaten them on two previous encounters. Morocco beat Benin 4-0 in the other group D game on Saturday, having upset Nigeria 1-0 in their opening match, while South Africa beat Benin 2-0 in their group D opener.
Only the top two
teams in each group progress to the quarterfinals. The Moroccans have scored five goals, conceding none and amassing six points in just two games; only big wins on Wednesday by both SA and Nigeria could prevent them from going through to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Nigeria pounce early
Bafana's performance against Nigeria was below par, with the players committing a series of blunders for which the Super Eagles punished them.
Nigeria made their intentions clear as early as the fourth minute, when Joseph Yobo scored the first goal. Bafana goalkeeper Emile Baron fumbled a corner kick as he was challenged by two Nigerians for the high ball. The ball fell for Yobo on the edge of the box, and he easily tapped it into Bafana's net.
The Super Eagles dominated the game from the kick-off. While Nigeria showed composure and purpose, Bafana were erratic and demonstrated a lack of urgency in their approach. Bafana's inability to
keep possession allowed Nigeria to play freely.
Nwankwo Kanu came close to scoring Nigeria's second in the 14th minute, but hesitated long enough for Baron to recover and stop the shot.
Bafana hardly made any forays into the Nigerian half of the field, and Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama had an easy day. Although Bafana tried to inject some urgency after Nigeria had scored, and in the early minutes of the second half, poor passing and giving away possession undermined their efforts.
Bafana deflated
The referee gave a questionable penalty to Nigeria in the 64th minute after Aaron Mokoena fell on the ball in the box following a push by Kanu. Super Eagles captain Austin "Jay Jay" Okocha slotted the ball past Baron, who dived the wrong way.
Nigerian coach Christian Chukwu did the unexpected in the 75th minute, pulling out Kanu and bringing on Osiza Odemwingie - who promptly scored two superb goals in the 81st and 84th
minutes to complete the routing of Bafana Bafana.
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