Bafana v Ghana – The Not-So-Fantastic Four

Bafana Bafana  will hope to beat Ghana in a competitive match on Thursday for the first time in over 21 years.

It was February 6, 2000, to be precise, when Trott Moloto’s South African side beat Ghana 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the  Africa Cup of Nations in Kumasi, Siyabonga Nomvethe grabbing the only goal of the game.

This followed a 3-0 clubbing South Africa had given the Black Stars four years earlier, in the semifinals of the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, a tournament that ultimately provided Bafana’s only continental crown thus far.

Since 2000, the outlook has been bleak for South Africa against Ghana, with a goalless draw at the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations followed by four consecutive defeats in their last four competitive meetings.

Phakaaathi editor Jonty Mark charts those four matches in the build up to Thursday’s game.

2006 Fifa World Cup qualifier – March 10, 2005 – Ghana 3 South Africa 0

Stuart Baxter’s Bafana had begun their World Cup qualifying campaign with a narrow win over Cape Verde, two rockets from Mbulelo Mabizela seeing them home in Bloemfontein. They came crashing down to earth in Kumasi, however, giving an awful performance, even if they were playing a supreme generation of Black Stars talent. Sulley Muntari gave Ghana a first half lead, while Steven Appiah added two more after the break. Bafana’s own young talent Steven Pienaar, meanwhile was hammered for his display. “He dodged tackles, never sought possession, and gave the impression that the last place he wanted to be was the central Ghanaian city,” read a report on the Fifa official website.

2006 Fifa World Cup qualifier – June 18, 2005 – South Africa 0 Ghana 2

South Africa had beaten Uganda home and away, and gone to Cape Verde and grabbed the three points too, to keep their hopes of qualifying for Germany 2006 well-and-truly alive heading into their return match with Ghana at FNB Stadium.  “They say payback can be a b**** when it comes back and hits you in the face,” said Baxter at the time, but his words didn’t prove prophetic at all. Shaun Bartlett, in the side with Benni McCarthy suspended, missed a couple of good chances for Bafana, but in the second half Matthew Amoah struck and Michael Essien added another, to inflict South Africa’s first ever home World Cup qualifying defeat.

2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals  – January 27, 2015 – South Africa 1 Ghana 2

Bafana Bafana went into their final Group C game against Ghana needing a win to stand any chance of reaching the quarterfinals. And it looked good for Shakes Mashaba’s side, as Mandla Masango lashed in a wonderful long-range volley at the Estadio do Mongomo. Bafana, however, had led in both of their other group games, only to lose 3-1 to Algeria and draw 1-1 with Senegal. And the trend continued here, as John Boye levelled before Ghana’s star man Andre Ayew headed in with seven minutes left to send Ghana through and leave Bafana rock bottom of the group.

2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying – November 14, 2019 – Ghana 2 South Africa 0

Molefi Ntseki’s Bafana opened their qualifying campaign with the trickiest of ties on Ghana’s Cape Coast, and were comfortably beaten in the end, as goals from Thomas Partey and Mohammed Kudus gave the Black Stars three points in Group C. Ntseki will hope his side have learned from that game and can finally turn the tide in these encounters, and if two decades of history are against South Africa, Covid-19 disruptions, and the changed nature of both squads, have surely left Thursday’s tie wide-open.

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