Another draw, yet another failure to beat Nigeria! When they gather at Safa House on Monday to review the tape of this match, Shakes Mashaba and his technical will lament the missed opportunity to get one over a Super Eagles outfit that had come here like sheep to the slaughter.
For this was a match Bafana Bafana should have won, such was their dominance in front of an enthusiastic 20 000 strong crowd.
That they needed an injury-time goal - scraped home by Bongani Zungu after Man of the Match Erick Mathoho had his header from a corner half cleared - told the continuing sad tale of South African football, the failure to put winnable matches to bed.
Like a boxer who controlled a fight and looked destined for a win on points only to be caught cold by an uppercut from nowhere, Bafana found themselves having to dig deep to deliver a knockdown of their own.
But they need not have given old man Mashaba the palpitations he no doubt endured in this match - especially late on after Nigerian captain Ahmed Musa had given the visitors the lead just five minutes from the end.
Bafana were quite brilliant throughout the match, their slick passing game so beautiful it induced images of Barcelona’s tika-taka. But when you dominate the game as much as they did and create the chances they did, you better find the net or else you will live to regret it.
One of those misses was from the penalty spot just after the hour. But Andile Jali - a renowned spot-kick taker who many had lamented his not taking that penalty which Tokelo Rantie missed at the Africa Cup of Nations against Algeria - fluffed his chance, shooting tamely to allow Daniel Akpeyi to save.
It was to prove a costly miss, the Super Eagles nearly stealing the game via that fantastic long drive by Musa. But this Bafana side dug deep to find the equaliser that got Mbombela rejoicing a draw that should have been a win.
Even though there were no goals scored in the first half, it was not for lack of trying by both sides – the home team in particular playing an entertaining brand of attacking football. With Jali, Zungu and Thulani Serero calling the shots in the midfield, Bafana excited the crowd with a brilliant passing game that saw them continuously threaten the Nigerian goal.
As early as the fifth minute, Zungu forced a corner out of Akpeyi with a good shot that the Super Eagles No1 fisted over following a neat interchange by no less than three Bafana players.
From the resultant corner, Mathoho had his header saved by the Nigerian ‘keeper.
Played on a slippery pitch, the match saw a lot of unforced errors as the players gave away possession uneccessarily.
Serero was one of the culprits, his slip on 10 minutes gifting Daniel Amokachi’s men a chance but Rivaldo Coetzee made a timely tackle to snuff out the Nigerian threat.
On 21 minutes it was Bafana’s chance to capitalise on a slip up but when they broke Sibusiso Vilakazi could only head Tokelo Rantie’s cross over the goal. Rantie nearly put Bafana ahead after receiving a fantastic pass from Zungu.
But having turned to create space for himself, the striker watched in disbelief as Leon Balugun put his body on the line to block the shot that appeared on target.
It was more of the same in the second half and when Serero earned that penalty it appeared Bafana would register only their second win over Nigeria in 12 meetings.
But Jali fluffed his lines at the vital moment.
South Africa (0) 1
Zungu 90 +2
Nigeria (0) 1
Musa 85 - The Star