With a contingent of supporters from the adjoining Chinatown shopping complex designed to make them feel at home, holders China delivered the goods and generally held the upper hand in a frost-bitten goalless draw against South Africa when the eight nation under-23 soccer tournament got under way at the Johannesburg Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
With temperatures close to sub-zero, the Doornfontein venue was no place for hot-blooded goalscorers — confirmed by the fact that the earlier Group B game on the programme between the Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt, like the icy, indecisive Group A encounter that followed, also ended scoreless.
China drew with Amaglug-glug in the group stages of the tournament last year and then gave the host nation a taste of Thierry Henry-type ”va-voom” by thumping them 3-1 in the final.
And while optimistic Amaglug-glug coach Steve Komphela declared before the kick-off that it was ”payback time”, one shivering spectator suggested that despite free admission, it was the 1 800 crowd who ended up short-changed.
Amaglug-glug and Orlando Pirates reserve goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwe was kept busy in the early stages by clinical passing, with Goa Lin, in particular, coming close to scoring on several occasions.
The South Africans, who are using the tournament to help formulate a squad good enough to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, gradually came more into the picture and should have opened the scoring against the run of play in the 33rd minute.
But after weaving deceptively past two defenders, tricky Ajax Cape Town wing Mkhanyiseli Siwahla chose wildly and unwisely to shoot from an acute angle when two teammates in front of goal were begging for the ball.
China continued to hold the upper hand in the second period, but the introduction of substitutes Michael Nkambule and Excellent Walaza added a degree of punch and purpose into the Amaglug-glug ranks — with Nkambule making a heroic clearance off his own goalline in the closing stages and Walaza worrying the opposing defence whenever he gained possession.
The top two teams in each group qualify for the semifinals and Botswana gained a strong hand in Group A by beating Cameroon 1-0. — Sapa