Bafana qualify for Africa Cup
10 October 2005
South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) drew 2-all in their final 2006 World Cup qualifier at Absa Stadium in Durban on Saturday to finish joint second in their group on 16 points - five points behind Ghana, who will be travelling to Germany for their first ever World Cup finals next year.
Bafana Bafana's draw in Durban was enough, however, to secure South Africa a spot at the 16-nation 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Bafana's goals on Saturday both came from striker Sibusiso Zuma, while the DRC's Shabani Nonda also struck a brace.
Man-of-the-match Zuma was inspirational in front of his home crowd, latching onto a Ricardo Katza cross in the fifth minute to open the scoring with a spectacular volley.
Nonda equalised just five minutes later, then gave the DRC the halftime lead after a Nasief Morris blunder in the 45th minute. Seven minutes into the second half, Zuma levelled matters with a low shot after stepping
inside two defenders.
South Africa, who will host the 2010 World Cup, will miss out on the 2006 showpiece event along with some of Africa's traditional soccer powerhouses - including Senegal, Cameroon and Nigeria.
While Tunisia qualified for the World Cup finals for the third successive time, Africa's other four 2006 qualifiers - Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo - have never appeared at a World Cup finals before.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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