Sibusiso Zuma laid the ghost of an eerie international goal drought to rest by scoring the goals that gave Bafana Bafana a 2-2 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at Durban’s Absa Stadium on Saturday and a nervy, at times uneasy place in next year’s 16-team African Nations Cup finals in Egypt.
It was nothing less than uncanny that a player with the scoring prowess of the quicksilver, German-based Zuma (30) had managed only three goals in his first 45 games for Bafana — before finally ending the jinx in the recent 3-1 defeat against Burkina Faso that crushed South Africa’s hopes of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
And in rain-swept, uncomfortable conditions before a half-filled stadium in Durban, Zuma took his overall tally for Bafana to six goals by doubling in two games the number he had recorded in the previous four years.
With the timely revival of his scoring firepower after an overdue switch to his best position as a striker, Zuma opened the score for Bafana in the fifth minute with a superbly timed, close-range volleyed goal.
Then, with the DRC leading 2-1 with a dazzlingly executed goal from Shabani Nonda a minute before half-time and the situation for Bafana looking as dark and ominous as the clouds that engulfed Durban, Zuma fired home the vital equaliser in the 52nd minute with a well-placed ground shot.
It was not exactly a moment of triumph for Bafana, but rather an occasion that oozed relief in view of the fact that Ghana had gained the World Cup qualifying spot from this group with a hefty five-point advantage over South Africa and the DRC.
And, ironically, in view of Burkina Faso simultaneously failing to beat Uganda, Bafana would have sealed a place in Egypt even had they lost.
It was tough, tense soccer in Durban between what appeared two half-baked teams, with Bafana handicapped by the late absence through similar ankle injuries of strikers Shaun Bartlett and Benni McCarthy.
The DRC showed grit to equalise with a soaring header from Mabi Mputu only seven minutes after Zuma’s opening goal. But new right-back Jimmy Tau was at fault here and the Bafana defence generally hardly looked composed and secure.
Pascal Kilembe in the DRC goal was often shaky, despite one breathtaking save from substitute Sibusiso Nomvete in the first half.
And with both teams needing only a draw to qualify for the African Nations Cup — and the DRC’s hopes of going to the World Cup long gone — the game finished on a low note with both sides quite content to maintain the status quo. — Sapa