Sao Tome and Principe (1) 2
South Africa (1) 4
IBAFANA Bafana izethule umthwalo iqoqa amaphuzu kwiSao Tome and Principe’ emdlalweni wokuhlungela i-Africa Cup of Nations eNelson Mandela Bay Stadium, eBhayi, izolo ntambama.
Amagoli eBafana ashaywe nguPercy Tau amabili noThemba Zwane amabili esiwombeni ngasinye. AweSao Tome abekwe phakathi nguJoazhifel Pontes noHarramiz Soares esiwombeni ngasinye.
Ukuwina kweBafana kusho ukuthi isingene ngonyawo olulodwa kwi-Afcon ezodlalelwa eCameroon ngonyaka ozayo. Inamaphuzu ayisishiyagalolunye emuva kwemidlalo emine. Isendaweni yesibili kuGroup C okuqhwakele kuwo iGhana ngawu-12. Uma iGhana ihlula iSudan namuhla, lokho kuzosho ukuthi iBafana isidinga iphuzu emidlalweni emibili yokugcina ezoyidlala neGhana neSudan ngonyaka ozayo.
Emdlalweni wayizolo, umqeqeshi weBafana, uMolefi Ntseki, wenze izinguquko esikimini esiqale umdlalo eThekwini ngesonto eledlule ehlula iSao Tome ngo 2-0. Uqale ngoLayle Lakay emuva kwesokunxele endaweni ka-Innocent Maela kwathi maphakathi nenkundla waqala ngoBongani Zungu endaweni kaKomogelo Mokotjo.
Esiwombeni sokuqala womabili amaqembu aqale ngegiya eliphansi, lingekho elakha amathuba aphakamisa amaphaphu. Nokho iSao Tome ibuye yacacisa ukuthi izosebenza ngesikhathi ukaputeni wayo uPontes evalela phakathi ibhola ngomzuzu ka-12. Yilelo goli elivuse iBafana emaqandeni, yaqala yahlanganisa amaphasi ayingozi kodwa ihluleka uma isifike phambili. Kugcine kulungile ngomzuzu ka-38 ngesikhathi uZwane eqobela phakathi ibhola aliphaselwe nguDean Furman.
Esiwombeni sesibili iBafana iqhubekile nokucindeza iSao Tome kodwa ihlulwa wukushaya igoli. Unozinti uRonwen Williams ubefana nesibukeli kwazise alukho olutheni obelumdinga enkundleni. Kugcine kuyilungele iBafana ngesikhathi uTau edlula kubadlali basemuva beSao Tome elivalela phakathi ngomzuzu ka-69. Nokho injabulo isheshe yaphela kwazise Soaress ushayele iSao Tome elokulinganisa emuva kwemizuzu embalwa. Nokho amagoli amabili asheshayo kaZwane noTau ngomzuzu ka-87 noka-88 abeke iBafana endaweni enhle yokuzibekisela indawo kwi-Afcon.
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