Bafana and Mozambique share spoils in Cosafa Cup opener

Goals in each half and numerous missed opportunities saw Bafana Bafana and Mozambique share the spoils in their opening group A clash in the Cosafa Cup at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Wednesday night.

The home side had two chances to snatch it at the end as Sinoxolo Kwayiba and Kenau Cupido shot wide in the final moments after Rushwin Dortley’s first-half opener was cancelled out by Mozambican substitute Chamito Alfandega.

Bafana were rampant in the opening exchanges of the first half as Thabang Sibanyoni and Asanele Velebayi came close to opening the scoring for the home side. They continued to pin the Mozambicans back as wide players Devin Titus and Velebayi tormented the visitors’ defenders and kept goalkeeper Acacio Muendane on his toes.

The men in green and gold nearly got punished from their own corner when a misplaced pass by Thabang Matuludi saw midfielder Dario Melo latch on to the loose ball before unleashing a long-range effort, forcing Bafana keeper Mondli Mpoto into his first save of the night.

The deadlock was finally broken when skipper Dortley neatly tucked home a pass from Ethan Brooks to give Bafana the lead with six minutes left in the half.

The home side finished the half with 63% possession and six attempts on goal, four of which were on target.

Muendane went down temporarily in the four minutes of added time as Bafana stood firm to close out the half.

As the players came out for the second half, Mambas coach Victor Jose Matine made two substitutions, removing Jochua Nhantumbo and Momede Ferreira Jr and replacing them with Alfandega and Fernando Jose Domingos.

Those changes saw the travellers begin to stretch their legs in the opening exchanges of the second half as they twice came close to levelling the contest.

Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele, in charge of the team at this tournament, made a change of his own when he replaced Brooklyn Poggenpoel with Keanu Cupido in the 58th minute.

A midfield collision saw Sibanyoni temporarily down on the deck. However, the forward was back on his feet in no time and ready to continue.

SA made two more changes as Devin Titus and Velebayi were replaced by Tshepang Moremi and Lehlogonolo Mojela to freshen up the front line.

Alfandega would have the devastating affect from the bench as his strike from range crept along the carpet to beat Mpoto low to his right to level matters.

The goal seemed to invigorate the Mozambican players as they began to find space more regularly in between the Bafana defence.

The visitors made another change in bringing on Miguel Muchanga to replace Gianluca Lorenzoni before one knock too many saw Sibanyoni stretchered off the field and replaced by Ashley Cupido, while Jaedin Rhodes replaced Ethan Brooks.

Matine followed suit as he brought on Edmund Joao in place of Jose Valipavai with less than 10 minutes of regulation time left.

Both Keanu Cupido and Kwayiba saw potential chances go astray in the final minutes.

In the earlier fixture at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Botswana and Eswatini struggled to find the back of the net as their match ended in a stalemate.

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