Bafana Bafana had a day they would rather forget at the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Sunday where they were easily beaten 3-0 by a rampant Ghana on a bumpy pitch. Ghana lead 1-0 at half-time.
It was the Black Stars of Ghana’s first win over South Africa. This was the sixth time the teams have played each other.
The South Africans were never in the match and the decision by new coach Stuart Baxter to arrive at the last minute in Ghana seemed to have backfired as his team produced a listless display.
Bafana started badly and finished badly. The South Africans were disappointing in the first half and were pinned back by the Black Stars.
Bafana had an early scare in the third minute when Buffour Gyan outpaced Bafana defender Mark Fish, and instead of passing from the right he opted to shoot and hit the side netting. This was a lucky let-off for the visitors.
But the writing was on the wall as Ghana piled on the pressure. Midfielder Sulley Mutari who plays in Italy for Udinese, beat Bafana keeper Moeneeb Josephs with a powerful left-footed shot to put Ghana 1-0 ahead in the 14th minute.
Bafana were defending for dear life and struggled on the wet and bumpy pitch.
Bafana’s only attack on goal came in the 32nd minute when midfielder, Steven Pienaar, who had a quiet first half, broke down the right flank and delivered a great cross, but there was no teammate inside the danger area to steer the ball goalwards.
Once again, Bafana players were guilty of giving away possession and free kicks inside their own half.
Matters took a turn for the worse in the 55th minute when the Bafana defenders appealed for a foul and stopped playing. This was a crucial mistake and allowed Ghana’s captain, Stephen Appiah, to slot home Muntari’s defence splitting chip inside the penalty area.
Appiah, who plays in the Italian Serie A for Juventus, completed the rout with a neat goal netted in the 77th minute when he took advantage, once again, of poor defending. – Sapa