Bafana Bafana beat Chad 3-0 in an African Nations Cup qualifying game that was transformed into a desert storm at the dusty Stade Omnisport in N’djamena on Saturday afternoon.
Although Bafana played with admirable control and purpose under the guidance of Carlos Parreira for the first time in an official game, the victory against a side that looks certain to finish their Group 11 qualifying campaign with six defeats from six matches should be placed in perspective.
The amateurish Chad combination would struggle to hold their own with teams in the lower regions of the PSL second division and can hardly be categorised as the kind of opposition on which to gauge the true strength of what has been termed ”a new look” Bafana, but which is ironically made up mainly of seasoned, long-serving players.
Only a succession of missed chances by Sibusiso Zuma prevented Bafana from opening the score before the 32nd minute on a pitch where the ball often bounced erratically and ricocheted to disconcerting heights.
Sundowns’ Surprise Moriri finally ended the deadlock with a precisely-timed, swivelled header from a Delron Buckley free-kick, and with Chad giving the impression that they would not score in a month of Sundays, victory for Bafana seemed almost assured at this early juncture.
In the final minute of the opening period Buckley demonstrated a degree of professional aplomb as he blasted the ball into the roof of the net to make the score 2-0.
Not surprisingly, under the circumstances, Bafana seemed to lose their direction and sense of purpose in the second period and Chad squandered three inviting opportunities before Zuma completed the scoring following a free-kick from substitute Elrio van Heerden.
Bafana have now secured seven points from three games in what appears to be evolving into a three-team battle with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to qualify for next year’s Nations Cup Finals.
Twelve group winners will automatically go to Ghana, with the three best-placed second teams and the host nation completing the 16-nation field. – Sapa