The South African Men’s National Team were held to a 1-1 draw by Congo in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers played on Tuesday night at the Alphonso Massemba-Debat Stadium in Brazzaville.
Only one change was made on Tuesday’s starting lineup, with Downs’ Iqraam Rayners coming in for an injured Lyle Foster. Following a 5-0 thumping last week, Bafana Bafana was looking to have a repeat away from home. Still, Congo Brazzaville were more comfortable in their backyard as they applied pressure from the get-go.
South Africa looked to break away early in the game, as the first big chance was struck by Themba Zwane in the 12th minute, but the Congo goalkeeper made an early crucial save to deny them an opener.
With continuous persistence, after many chances of looking to find the back of the net, South Africa finally found the breakthrough and broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute. It was Elias Mokwana who burst past Congo’s defence to shoot, but his effort was saved by the diving goalkeeper. Mokwana was, however, able to bundle a rebound as he shot the ball to make it 1-0.
Despite looking solid throughout the first stanza, Bafana Bafana were unable to hold on to their lead. The hosts mounted a fightback after conceding and were finally able to level matters in stoppage time. Both sides headed to the interval with a goal apiece.
Congo looked more solid in the second stanza, and they looked more comfortable on the artificial pitch. There were, however, plenty of chances from both sides, with South Africa creating the last clear-cut chance of the match, but the scramble in the box denied them a last-gasp goal. In the end, they had to settle for a 1-1 scoreline.
Bafana Bafana is closer to securing passage to Morocco for AFCON, which is scheduled for Dec 2025 until January 2026. They have two more matches to finalise the qualifiers. Their next game is on the 11th of November 2024 against Uganda away from home before returning home to host South Sudan on the 19th of November 2024.
I think Manqoba should not that Broos derail him,the old man is forever confused,he once said he will not select an old Zwane, now he says Zwane is indispensable.Now he is busy saying if Mokoena’s situation doesn’t change he will have to take a decision he does’t like,yet he selected Sibisi from Pirates when he hasn’t been playing,he only started one game after Ndah’s injury,Maswanganyi is playing nonsense at Pirates yet he selected him,the less said about his relationship with the ever erratic Mothwa the better.Make no mistake Mokoena is a good player but not special at Sundowns,if he is special how come we lost the two games he played and won all the games he did not play? We are Sundowns not some spaza shop where anyone can do as they please.No one is bigger than the brand Sundowns.