Bafana Bafana suffered penalty shoot-out heartache again when they lost against hosts Zambia in the semi-final of the Cosafa Cup last night.
Bafana Bafana suffered penalty shoot-out heartache once again when they were beaten by Zambia in the Cosafa Cup semi-final. Photo: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images
A chorus of boos rang out each time a South African stepped up to take a penalty at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium. And it was one of the experienced players in the squad, Lerato Chabangu, who saw his penalty saved.
Bafana also went down on penalties to Mali in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil at the start of year.
In Wednesday night’s other semi-final, Zimbabwe beat Lesotho 2-1 to qualify for Saturday’s final.
Bafana were fortunate not to concede in the first half, after being run ragged by the energetic Zambians.
Bafana’s defenders also looked a bit nervous, sometimes taking one too many touches to clear their lines. They seemed to be intimidated by the small, but vocal home supporters on the stands, especially young Tshepo Gumede.
Both teams had their chances in extra time to win the game, but in the end the dreaded penalty shoot-out had to decide the winner. – The Star
