Italian-based Siyabonga Nomvethe scored twice in the second half to give South Africa a 2-0 victory against minnows Benin in an African Cup of Nations Group D match played in Sfax on Tuesday while earlier Nigeria were stunned by Morocco.
Benin belied their minnow status by taking the game to the South Africans and should have received a penalty midway through the first half when a shot hit defender Thabang Molefe’s hand, but the referee waved play on.
They had another chance a few minutes later after Alain Gaspoz found himself in space, but his shot went just wide. South Africa then squandered a great opportunity a minute before the break after being awarded an undeserved penalty when Sibusiso Zuma was adjudged to have been pulled down.
However, justice was done when Nomvethe pulled his weak shot wide of the post.
Benin started the second half the better side and had two clear cut chances in the first five minutes. Captain Moussa Latoundji saw his effort hit the bar, while Jonas Oketolakpo, with only the keeper to beat pulled his shot wide.
But it was South Africa who took the lead on the hour against the run of play when Nomvethe ran onto a John Moshoeu free kick and headed home to make amends for his earlier penalty miss.
Benin then launched attack after attack, but failed to convert any of the chances they created. Instead, Nomvethe put the game beyond Benin’s reach when he found himself in space and unleashed a powerful shot that gave Chitou no chance in the 76th minute.
In the earlier game in Monastir, substitute Youssef Hadji scored in the 78th minute to give Morocco a surprise 1-0 victory against two-time champions Nigeria.
The victory was a popular one for several thousand Moroccan supporters, including 2 000 Moroccan students who study in Monastir, in the 18 000 capacity crowd in the Mustapha Ben Jannet stadium.
Neither side managed to create any chances in the opening spell, as both sides tried to break their opponent’s game down. In the 20th minute Marouane Chamakh should have opened the scoring for the North Africans after receiving a pin-point cross from Jaouad Zairi, but his header went just over the bar.
Nigeria came out of the change rooms a different side and created several scoring opportunities early on. Yakubu Aiyegbeni came close after being set up by Agahowa, while John Utaka had his effort deflected away for a corner.
Chamakh came close for Morocco on the 77th minute after turning with the ball in the area and unleashing a powerful shot that flew over the bar.
The North Africans deservedly took the lead a minute later, when substitute Youssef Hadji, who had been brought on shortly before, was set up by Abdelkrim Kissi in the area. The Bastia striker turned on his marker and shot past the stranded Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Eneama.
Chamakh should have finalised matters two minutes from the end with a well-placed shot from within the area, but the ball bounced back into play from the post.
Moroccan coach Badou Zaki said afterwards that he had brought on Hadji because Zairi had just recovered from an injury. ”I knew what Hadji can do and I had no hesitation in bringing him on. I think we played well and deserved the victory.
His Nigerian counterpart, Christian Chukwu, said that he did not want to make any excuses. ”Even though some of our player arrived later, we worked well and that is not the reason why we lost.”
Super Eagles captain Jay Jay Okocha said that the side had lost because they lacked character. ”We did not show enough character.
We did not show that we wanted to dominate the game. We let them into the game and we gave them so much room to do what they liked.”
The results mean South Africa leads the group from Morocco. -Sapa-DPA