THE dream of Afcon success ended for Bafana Bafana on Tuesday night as they went down 2-1 to Ghana in their final Group C fixture.
The Black Stars progress to the knockout stages along with Algeria, whose 2-0 upset win over Senegal turned the group on its head.
When Shakes Mashaba’s SA side get to the next trainig session, they would do well to invite someone from Chelsea – or even Putco – to teach them how to park a bus.
In all three Afcon games, Bafana failed to protect and defend their lead after going ahead with well-constructed goals.
Tuesday’s game was a case in point, as Mandla Masango’s thumping first half volley, surely the goal of the tournament, put SA ahead and seemingly on the road to qualification.
But a dismal display in the second stanza saw them unable to resist waves of attack from the skillful Ghanaians and it came as no surprise to see keeper Brilliant Khuzwayo twice beaten with the defenders in chaos in front of him.
You can’t defend a lead by dropping all your players back.
For a start, a crowded box doesn’t do the goalkeeper any favours.
Not only is his vision impaired but there is a greater chance of deflections as well as players getting in the way of their own team mates.
Worst of all, every ball that is cleared is simply picked up in the vacant, surrendered midfield to set up the next attack.
Ironically, once Ghana scored through John Boye to equalise, this forced Bafana to stretch their game again and they too had their moments.
But it wasn’t to be, and they went out convincingly to the dominant Ghanaians who totally controlled the second half which saw Andre Ayew seal the deal with an unmarked header
The young Bafana side would have gained plenty of experience from the Afcon excercise.
Any expectation that they might have won the tournament were based on optimism and hope, rather than reality, and they return from Equatorial Guinea without disgrace after three (well, two and a half) good showings against the continent’s top teams.
