ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Bloemfontein | Saturday 7.00pm
SELDOM can a Bafana Bafana success have had such a hollow ring as the 1-0 win over Lesotho at Free State Stadium on Saturday in the second leg of a World Cup preliminary-round tie.
So what if the team was weakened by the absence of many Europe-based stars like captain Lucas Radebe, Quinton Fortune and Benni McCarthy. South African spin doctors constantly remind us of the bottomless depth to our talent.
There was a distinct lack of urgency and creativity and it took a moment of clinical finishing from stand-in skipper Shaun Bartlett to separate Bafana Bafana from the Basotho.
It was almost a carbon copy of the goal he scored to set up a 2-0 first-leg win in Maseru with Siyabonga Nomvete again the creator through a deep cross that Bartlett nodded in at the far post.
With the second half less than four minutes old and a place in the second round secured, it was not unreasonable to expect South Africa to engulf the visitors in a tidal wave of attacks.
But one of the most lacklustre performances by the national team in a long time meandered on and even the introduction of first-leg star Jabu Pule for Joseph Ngake failed to ignite the team.
It could have been even worse, though, as Lesotho fired a half-chance over inside two minutes, impressive midfielder Godfrey Sapula stretched every muscle to block a goal-bound shot and Molefe Makhele shot wide when set to score.
South Africa were equally woeful in the finishing department with Thabo Mngomeni posing more danger to spectators than goalkeeper Tseliso Thite after being nicely set up for a shot by Pierre Issa.
Nomvete and Bartlett rarely clicked and the ultimate indictment of Bafana Bafana indifference was the fact that they came closest to increasing their lead through the efforts of defenders Frankie Schoeman and Issa.