Ntseki defiant as Bafana are made to sweat by Sao Tome

Molefi Ntseki was proud of the resilience shown by his team as they grabbed two late goals to seal a heart-stopping 4-2 win over Sao Tome on Monday afternoon, in a Group C 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Port Elizabeth.

READ MORE: Zwane, Tau spared Bafana blushes as they edge out Sao Tome

Bafana had come from behind to lead 2-1 against the island minnows, but in the 75^th minute Harramiz Soares headed in to make it 2-2, leaving South Africa in danger of an embarrassing draw, especially as this ‘away’ game was being played in Port Elizabeth.

Themba Zwane and Percy Tau, however, scored in quick succession to seal a three points that puts Bafana in excellent shape to qualify for Cameroon 2022.

“We had our backs against the wall at 2-2, but we kept the faith and the goals came … we have six points (Bafana also beat Sao Tome 2-0 in Durban on Friday),” said Ntseki.

We are fully aware of the mistakes we made conceding goals. In March next year (Bafana’s final two qualifiers), we will work at it. Eight of the players we selected had to be withdrawn (from the squad) and we had to make do. I think we did very well under the circumstances. Congratulations to the boys, they have managed to get nine points (from four games in Group C), and we have an opportunity to go and play in the Afcon).”

The top two teams in Group C will go to Cameroon for the finals, which have been move to January 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

And if Sudan lost to Ghana in their Group C game on Tuesday, it will mean South Africa need just a single point to confirm their place at the continental showpiece.

The Bafana head coach also said they expected Sao Tome to give it a go in Port Elizabeth – the islanders scored their first two goals in the group, with their captain Joazhifel Sousa Soares stunning Bafana with a near post header from a corner to put them in front, before Harramiz Soares seemed to have earned them a point with another header.

“We had a good analysis of the opponent and we expected them to come at us, they had nothing to lose. They were the only team that hadn’t scored (in the group) and we knew …. getting a goal would give them confidence and belief they could win. They are a very physical team and everything depended on long diagonal balls and putting you under pressure. We identified that they were good at set play routines, but unfortunately we conceded our first goal from a set play. We did not apply ourselves properly,” added Ntseki.

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