Record fifth win in a row for Bafana
Brad Morgan
28 January 2009
Bafana Bafana scored a record fifth victory in succession when they beat Zambia 1-0 in a friendly at the Atteridgeville Super Stadium in Pretoria on Tuesday evening. Coach Joel Santana was happy with his side's performance, saying they played "beautiful football".
Early on in Santana's tenure, many Bafana fans criticised the hiring of the Brazilian, especially when the team failed to produce good results. Now, however, after a record run of victories, Santana has won over many of his former critics.
Reflecting on SA's victory, Santana said: "For me, it is not only important to win, but also important to win by playing beautiful football and my players did that today against Zambia."
Competitive
Fifa President Sepp Blatter has previously stated that a competitive Bafana Bafana is vital for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Based on recent results, the SA national team is on its way to meeting Blatter's hopes. And, with the Confederations Cup being hosted by South Africa in June, an in-form Bafana Bafana will help sell the event to the South African public.
The team that faced Zambia was made up of Premier Soccer League players only and the win reflected well on the depth available to Joel Santana.
Zambia were going to include only Zambian-based players, but decided to strengthen their squad by including players from South Africa's PSL.
Nervous followers of Bafana Bafana could have been forgiven for having some misgivings ahead of the game. After all, it was only a year-and-a-half ago that South Africa, at full strength, were beaten 3-1 by Zambia in Cape Town when they needed only a draw to ensure their place in the African Cup of Nations finals.
Dominated
This time around South Africa dominated the game and, if anything, the final score flattered Chipolopolo. Had it not been for a superb performance by Zambian goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene, who plays for the PSL club Free State Stars, the margin would have been far greater.
In the first half the action flowed unrelentingly towards the Zambian goal, while, at the other end of the field, SA goalie Itumeleng Khune wasn't called on to make a single save.
Striker Mabhuti Khenyeza had a number of opportunities to put Bafana ahead in the opening stanza; after being sent clear by midfielder Teko Modise after 17 minutes, he lost control of the ball and possession. Two minutes later he was wide of the mark with a header after a delightful cross from Siphiwe Tshabalala.
Glaring miss
With almost half-an-hour played, Khenyeza was again off target with a header from a cross by Lucas Thwala. Shortly afterwards he struck a glaring miss, firing over the crossbar from close range after Tshabalala had put him in the clear.
Teko Modise, who was once again superb in the midfield, forced a couple of outstanding saves out of Mweene, who helped his team head into the break level at nil-nil.
Shortly after the restart, however, Mweene's night was over as he was forced to leave the field because of an injury. Davy Kaumbau replaced him, but he had been on the field for less than five minutes when he was beaten.
Modise scored for Bafana Bafana after Zambian captain Elijah Tana brought down the excellent Tshabalala just outside the penalty area. His well-struck free kick passed low, just inside the left-hand post and into the corner of the Zambian net.
Excellent save
Two minutes later, there was finally a response from Chipolopolo and it took an excellent save from Khune to keep out a powerfully struck free kick from Noah Chivuta.
It didn't take long for South Africa to regain control of the contest, and the match drifted towards its conclusion as the play lost some of its shape with the introduction of substitutes.
The final whistle marked a satisfying start to 2009 for Bafana Bafana, but coach Santana will know that the upcoming tests for his side will be more demanding.
They next face Chile on 11 February at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, followed by Norway at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on 28 March.
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