Tiny Cape Verde dampened South Africa’s spirits at the Africa Cup of Nations by holding the hosts to 0-0 draw in the rain in the opening game.
The inexperienced Cape Verde players defied Bafana Bafana and a big home crowd with a mature, resilient performance to earn a point in Group A.
The visitors had the best chances to score. First, Helson Ramos screwed a shot wide of the right post when clear in the area in the 15th minute, then the same player forced Itumeleng Khune into a scrambling save with a diving header midway through the second half, nearly causing a far worse result for South Africa at the start of the country’s second big football party in three years.
“I’m happy with the performance of the team,” said the Cape Verde coach, Lúcio Antunes. “It’ll make Cape Verde’s 500 000 people happy. Today, I can hold my head up high.”
Conversely, South Africa’s lacklustre form under coach Gordon Igesund continued, and underlined fears the hosts could make even less of an impact at their Africa Cup than they did at their World Cup in 2010.
Bafana Bafana had hardly any goalscoring chances in a stuttering, unimaginative start.
“The guys were very, very nervous out there,” Igesund said. “I’ve never seen them like this.” – AP
