Menzi Magubane
A well deserved victory for Bafana Bafana over Ghana on Monday night has seen them go top of Group G in the FIFA Club World Cup qualifiers.
A solitary goal by Bongokuhle Hlongwane late in the match took Bafana to four points with Ghana going down to second place with three points after two matches.
It must be said that the Black Stars would feel a bit relieved after only losing by a single goal. Bafana were somewhat wasteful in front of goal at the FNB Stadium in Soweto.
They could have easily won it by more than three goals, with Evidence Makgopa and Hlongwane missing clear cut chances. In the first half the referee’s assistant denied Bafana a goal scoring chance by flagging for offside, a call which was in fact the wrong decision.
Ghana were nowhere near their best in this match and they will know that they didn’t deserve anything from it.
Anything less than maximum points would have put them under immense pressure, with Ethiopia and Zimbabwe still to play on Tuesday. But thanks to the 84th minute tap-in from Hlongwane, Tuesday’s result won’t affect them that much.
The Maritzburg United forward was voted man of the match for the first time in Bafana colours.
“At half time the coach (Hugo Broos) told us to take it easy after missing a number of scoring chances. He said that Ghana don’t have a proper game plan so it is us who need to dictate things and goals will come,” said Hlongwane after the full time whistle.
With 10 Groups in these qualifiers, the 10 teams who will finish on top will proceed to the next stage. Those 10 teams will take on each other and the five of them will represent the African continent in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Bafana will take on Ethiopia in their third match on 6 October and maximum points will certainly give them hopes that they can win the Group and progress to the second stage.
Image source:@bafanabafana
