Bafana bring down Africa's best
Brad Morgan
20 November 2008
Bafana Bafana ended their year on a high note with a 3-2 victory over Cameroon in the annual Nelson Mandela Challenge at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Wednesday evening.
The victory over the Indomitable Lions, ranked fourteenth in the world and first on the African continent, was South Africa's fourth win in succession and their best of the year, not only because of Cameroon's high ranking, but also because of the style of football played by coach Joel Santana's charges.
The Brazilian took over the coaching reins slap bang in the middle of African Cup of Nations qualifying and after a string of poor results many fans were ready to deem his signing as a mistake. Many of those same supporters have surely revised their assessments since.
SA's strikers and midfielders looked good in what was, at times, a tough and uncompromising battle in midfield, where some robust tackles went in. The defence, however, was a little suspect when facing set pieces. Nonetheless, it was a good all-round performance.
Impressive start
Bafana Bafana started impressively, moving the ball well against a physical Cameroon defence, and it didn't take long for the home team to be rewarded for their efforts as they hit the front after six minutes.
The goal-scoring move began with an accurate long pass from Matthew Booth, out of defence to wing Siphiwe Tshabalala on the left. Tshabalala cut inside and beat one man before he was stopped. However, with South Africa applying pressure, the ball fell to midfielder Teko Modise, who lashed an unstoppable shot from 30 metres out past goalkeeper Carlos Kameni.
Bafana kept up their fluent play as the midfielders and strikers set Cameroon on the back foot with good teamwork.
Two goals ahead
Further reward followed after 24 minutes when Benni McCarthy, who had elected to play despite the passing away of his father last week, put Modise through with a clever back-heel. The midfielder grabbed his second with a left-footed shot across the goalkeeper into the corner of the net.
The capacity crowd exploded in celebration, but the Lions soon showed their indomitable spirit by pulling one back only three minutes later.
Their goal came from a free kick conceded by Lance Davids on the edge of the South African penalty area. Ngom Kome, a member of the Cameroon squad that won Olympic gold in 2000, beat SA goalie Itumeleng Khune with a well-placed shot to pull his team back into the contest.
Kome was almost on target again five minutes later, but his header found the side netting of the South African goal.
Scores level
He then turned goal provider after 35 minutes when his free kick picked out Tehoi Somen, who headed past Khune to pull Cameroon level at 2-2.
Siyabonga Nkosi was forced from the field six minutes from the break after a dirty off-the-ball challenge. He was replaced by Thanda Royal Zulu's in-form striker Bernard Parker.
After a bright start, Bafana Bafana found themselves heading into the break all square, no doubt disappointed at having let a comfortable lead slip.
Cameroon, meanwhile, were buoyed by their fight-back and their uplifted spirits were reflected in their play after the restart as they put South Africa under pressure.
Katlego Mphela, on for Benni McCarthy, had a shot block by Kameni in the Cameroon goal. Later, he became the second South Africa to be forced to leave the game after a bad challenge from Modeste M'Bami caught him in the face.
Winner
With time running out, Bafana Bafana showed character to find a winner as substitutes Bernard Parker and Thulasizwe Mbuyane combined to find a way past Kameni.
Parker, after superbly controlling a long pass, had a shot on goal blocked, but Mbuyane was on hand to regain possession. He fired at Kameni, who parried the effort. Parker, though, smashed the rebound into the back of the net and put South Africa back in front.
With one minute left of regulation time, Modise had an excellent opportunity to score a hat-trick; he was brought down inside the Cameroon area and Bafana Bafana were awarded a penalty.
Modise was given the responsibility of taking the spot kick, but Kameni denied him to keep the score at 3-2.
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