Plucky Bafana Bafana in losing battle in Polokwane

Bafana Bafana’s dream of participating in the 2018 Fifa World Cup went up in smoke at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday evening when Senegal’s Lions of Taranga outplayed them by 2 goals to nil for a place in the line-up to Russia next June.
Bafana Bafana accumulated a mere 4 points from five matches played in Group D that also includes Burkina Faso and Cape Verde Islands, while Senegal leads the group by 11 points thus making their encounter with the South Africans at Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor in Dakar on Tuesday a mere formality.
The Lions of Taranga opened the scores in the 13th minute of the first half after Sadio Mane released striker Diafra Sakho who easily tapped the ball in to put his team in the lead 1-0.
The second goal for Senegal came in the 38th minute after Sakho took on Bafana’s defence to pass to Mane, whose shot was blocked by Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and accidentally hit defender Thansanqa Mkhize who scored an own goal for the national team.
Speaking during the post-match interviews, Bafana Bafana Head Coach, Stuart Baxter said the team played well despite losing the match.
“We tried to get ourselves back into contention after those back to back losses to Cape Verde. It was amazing that we went 2-0 down because I thought we were better than them,” Baxter told the media.
“We missed our chances. The second half we still created more chances than they did. But it all means nothing as we went down 2-0 and they go to Russia.”
The match was attended by
41 000 football fans from all parts of the country and dignitaries such as Polokwane Executive Mayor, Thembi Nkadimeng, Premier Stan Mathabatha and several members of his Executive Council.
Ndavhe Ramakuela, Community Development Director at Polokwane Municipality said they were pleased to have hosted so many South African soccer loving fans at the stadium.
“This was the second best attended fixture at the stadium since the 2011 Telkom Knockout fixture between Kaizer Chiefs Football Club and Santos Football Club. On that day we had 42 000 supporters in the stadium. We want to thank the soccer fans for showing support and for showing the whole Africa that we are a destination of choice,” Ramakuela said.

Story and photos: Herbert Rachuene
>>herbert.observer@gmail.com