COSAFA CUP
Mauritius hammer Bafana
Zolile Mtshelwane
12 January 2004
Bafana Bafana's preparations for the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia later this month lie in tatters after Mauritius beat the South Africans 2-0 in a Cosafa Cup first round match played at the George V stadium in the island nation on Saturday.
There was no score at half-time.
Bafana went into the game without coach Shakes Mashaba, who was suspended by the SA Football Association last week for allegedly being in breach of his contract. Mashaba's assistant, April Phumo, was in charge of the depleted team for the game.
Mauritius' first goal came in the 53rd minute when Bafana defender Jacob Lekgetho volleyed an own goal into his own net.
In the 81st minute Mauritius caught Bafana's defence napping in a counter-attack move. Christopher Perle chipped the ball over Wayne Roberts to set up a sensational victory for the home side.
Bafana's only real shot at goal was in the 78th minute, when Mauritius goalkeeper Nicolas Doro
parried a shot from Delron Buckley.
Earlier, in the 29th minute, Bafana winger Stanton Fredericks fluffed a chance when he shot wide, while on the stroke of half-time Sibusiso Zuma blasted wide with the goals in front of him
Bafana, who have never lost to Mauritius in 10 previous encounters, were ill-prepared for the match. The coach's suspension did not help the players' state of mind either.
Bafana only travelled with 16 players, instead of the 22 selected by Mashaba in December, due to the withdrawal and unavailability of some of the squad members.
The absence of defence kingpin Aaron Mokoena due to injury forced Phumo to field a makeshift combination at the back. The defenders - Lekgetho, Neil Winstanley and Benson Mhlongo - were disjointed and confused on the day. The scoreline could have been bigger had the Mauritians capitalised on this weakness.
The midfielders and forwards did not fare better. Although Bafana looked businesslike for the most part
of the first stanza, they seemed to lose concentration and purpose in the second half. Even after Lekgetho's unfortunate own goal, Bafana did not play like a team that was a goal down.
This was Bafana's third consecutive defeat. In November, the South Africans went on a disastrous North African safari, where they lost to Egypt and Tunisia as part of the preparations for the continental spectacle.
If these three defeats are any indication, Bafana will have a mountain to climb to progress past the first round in Tunisia. Their campaign opens on 27 January when they play against Benin, followed by match-ups with Nigeria and Morocco.
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