Johannesburg – Bafana Bafana were held to a somewhat disappointing goalless draw in their opening match of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) by minnows Cape Verde, at the National Stadium, in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The draw is a huge achievement for the tournament debutants, but the results have put more pressure on Bafana who will find it difficult to beat Angola and Morocco in their next group A matches to be played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on January 23 and 27 respectively.
With the partisan home supporters blowing vuvuzelas and singing shosholoza, Bafana Bafana started attacking the visitors from the first minute, but as always Bafana continued to miss easy goal scoring opportunities.
In an attempt to put Bafana ahead, Thuso Phala frustrated Santos Nivaldo with his brilliant run on the right flank until he brought him down just outside the box.
Tshabalala took the set piece, but Parker’s header missed the target. With the National Stadium abuzz with vuvulezas, Bafana continued to put more pressure to the Afcon debutants, but with no luck of finding the back of the net.
A sloppy defence in the 14th minute nearly cost Bafana Bafana when Cape Verde player Soares Luis’s poor shot in the box missed the target by inches. – allafrica
