Bafana through to Afcon Round of 16

Bafana Bafana are through to the Round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) after a fierce, epic battle against Tunisia, which ended in a stalemate on Wednesday night at Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo.

Bafana Bafana’s goalless draw against the Carthage Eagles ensured passage out of the group stages sending them through to the last 16, finishing second in Group E with four points after a loss, win and draw.

Bafana Bafana put up a masterful defensive display to keep the North Africans at bay and in the process finished second, and a point behind Group E winners Mali.

Bafana through to AFCON Round of 16
🗞⤵️https://t.co/DE8y0VJBPL

— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) January 24, 2024

Thanks to the brilliant display where friends turned foes on Sunday against Namibia, that managed to keep Bafana Bafana’s dreams alive.

The South African senior men’s team thrashed Namibia 4-0 on Sunday, however, the Brave Warriors draw against Mali on Wednesday night saw the former also qualify to the knockout stages as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Bafana Bafana will now face the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup, The Atlas Lions of Morocco on Tuesday, January 30.

It will be a must-watch encounter as the winner will cruise to the quarter-finals of Afcon.

Bafana Bafana’s head-to-head with Morocco after six games indicates that the Atlas Lions won two, Bafana Bafana one with three stalemates.

🚨 Off to the Round of 16 we go!!! 🚨

We can confirm that we have finished 2nd in Group E. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 #afcon2023 #BafanaPride pic.twitter.com/QkVi6RBRYU

— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) January 24, 2024

The Bafana Bafana vs Tunisia encounter was a tense battle of wills that was marked by furious tackles, especially during the first half and was balanced on a knife edge.

Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns’ left back Aubrey Modiba produced a stellar performance defensively as well as offensively.

Modiba was more dangerous on the overlap taking on Tunisia’s defenders.

However, all the beautiful crosses into the box were not utilised by Bafana’s attackers.

The match was tense and very aggressive with some of the tackles looking very dangerous but the referee allowed play to continue.

The best chance of the opening period fell to Evidence Makgopa in the 27th minute but his effort flew agonisingly close to but on the wrong side of the upright, to the relief of Tunisia goalkeeper Bechir ben Saïd.

The two sides went into the half-time break still tied at 0-0.

Tunisia’s players executed dangerous tackles, which were not cautioned and resulted in Khuliso Mudau being taken off due to injury.

He was replaced by Nyiko Mobbie at right-back and produced a solid display in coordination with Mthobi Mvala.

Bafana Bafana controlled the second half and created chances but failed to convert.

Themba Zwane however controlled things and delivered another Man-of-the-match performance for the South Africans.

“We wanted to qualify for the next round and we did well as a team. We managed to get a point and overall as a team, we did well,” Zwane said.

The draw sees Tunisia bow out of the Afcon with only two points from three matches.

Tunisia coach Jalel Kadri resigned moments after the elimination taking the number of coaches who have either been sacked or resigned since the tournament started to five.

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