Bafana crash 3-0 to Ghana
21 June 2004
Bafana Bafana lost 3-0 to a spirited Ghana at Kumasi stadium on Sunday in the second game in their campaign to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and African Cup of Nations.
It was the first time in six encounters that Ghana's Black Stars have beaten South Africa.
Stuart Baxter's charges failed to impress on the day. Bafana Bafana went into the game with a defensive approach, and spent the whole of the first half defending. However, that defence was disjointed and porous, allowing Ghana to score first in the 14th minute, through Sulley Muntari's powerful low shot that left Moeneeb Josephs stranded.
The Black Stars' captain, Stephen Appiah, took advantage of the listless Bafana in the second half, scoring in the 55th minute with a chip over Josephs after the South Africans failed to clear a bouncing cross.
He followed that up with another goal in the 78th minute after three Bafana defenders appealed for a foul outside their box and stopped
playing. The referee waved play on and Appiah ran directly at the confused defence, beating Josephs with a low shot.
Bafana's midfielders played too deep and failed to challenge the Ghanaians. Their perennial weakness of easily giving away possession and conceding free kicks was again their downfall.
In the 90 minutes of play, Bafana made only one attempt at Ghana's goal, in the 32nd minute. Steven Pienaar broke away on the right flank and delivered a wonderful cross into Ghana's area, but there was no Bafana player to steer it goalwards.
Speaking after the game, Baxter conceded that his charges performed dismally. "It was a disappointing performance", he said, adding: "From here it's back to the drawing board to focus on our next assignment against Burkina Faso."
Bafana's chances of playing in the world and continental showpiece tournaments in two years' time could be in tatters if Baxter does not come up with an organised, winning combination in the
remaining eight games of the qualifying campaign.
Perhaps he should start by shedding his obsession with fielding a team dominated by "big name" players who seem to feel they have nothing to prove.
On Sunday, many of Bafana's players on the pitch were just going through the motions. Not much commitment or character showed through.
South Africa face Burkina Faso on 2 July, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo on 3 September and Uganda on 8 October.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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