South Africa crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-1 last 16 loss to Cameroon in Rabat on Sunday, as the Indomitable Lions set up a Friday quarter-final against hosts Morocco in the same city.
Junior Tchamadeu opened the scoring for Cameroon in the 34th minute and Christian Kofane doubled their lead shortly after half-time. Evidence Makgopa pulled one back for South Africa, but it was too little, too late.
South Africa started on the front foot with two golden opportunities in the first seven minutes, both created by Oswin Appollis. The first came in the third minute, when Lyle Foster headed narrowly wide off an Appollis free-kick delivery on Bafana’s right. The opportunity from the set piece had come after a Nouhou Tolo foul on Teboho Mokoena.
Four minutes later, Mofokeng was played in behind by Appollis after a defensive lapse. However, after controlling the ball, he lost his balance as he shot and fired a glorious opportunity off target.
In the 14th minute, Foster had the ball in the net, but the goal was disallowed due to the Burnley striker having strayed marginally offside.
It was only a matter of time before Bafana were punished for not taking their early chances. In the 34th minute, Foster headed a Cameroon corner delivery into the path of Carlos Baleba. The Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder’s shot deflected off first Nkosinathi Sibisi and then Samuel Kotto into the path of Tchamadeu, who beat Ronwen Williams from close range.
Six minutes later, Danny Namaso fired off target from long range, with momentum firmly with Cameroon heading into half-time.
David Pagou’s side came out firing again after the break. In the 47th minute, Kofane headed home a cross from substitute Mahamadou Nagida, which came in from the left.
Seven minutes later, Epassy was called into action again from a Teboho Mokoena free-kick. From the resulting corner, Cameroon attacked on the counter and Ronwen Williams was forced into a save.
That just about kept Bafana in the game, but they had more problems to deal with. At the back, they continued to struggle to deal with the combination of Bryan Mbeumo and Kofane. With 10 minutes left before the clock ticked into stoppage time, Mbeumo’s ball from the left played Kofane in behind, but he let South Africa off the hook by firing wide.
Tempers flared in the last few minutes and Foster was fortunate to escape with only a yellow card after grabbing the assistant referee’s arm.
In the 88th minute, Bafana pulled a goal back at last as substitute left-back Aubrey Modiba picked out substitute striker Makgopa with a cross. Makgopa was on hand to tap in at the near post.
The Orlando Pirates frontman had another opportunity in the first minute of five of stoppage time as he beat Epassy to an aerial ball, but headed agonisingly wide of goal.
For all South Africa’s heart in the closing minutes of the game, it will be of concern to them ahead of the FIFA World Cup that they were unable to take their chances earlier and capitulated when Cameroon had a wave of momentum.
For the Indomitable Lions; after all the confusion they had over the squad and head coaching position ahead of the tournament, they will now be feeling quietly confident that when it matters most, they can once again pull off a miracle after beating the coach who led them to the title against all odds in 2017.
ESPN
