Bafana Bafana has been eliminated from the Cosafa Cup, despite beating Eswatini 1-0 during their last Group A match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday.
South Africa finished the group second and level on five points with Mozambique, with the latter advancing to the knockout round of the competition with a better goal difference.
Bafana also crashed out of this year’s competition by not being one of the best runners-up teams.
The hosts took the lead as early as three minutes into the game. This when striker Thabang Sibanyoni leapfrogged the highest and powered a header past goalkeeper Xolani Gama.
The visitors could have levelled matters in the 26th minute. That was when Sizolwethu Shabalala found himself one-on-one with Bafana’s goalkeeper, Mondli Mpoto. However, his effort went wide off the post.
Moments later, Eswatini thought they had found the much-needed equaliser. But their goal was flagged offside, and Bafana went to the break with a slender lead.
Going into the second half, both sides looked determined to score. Bafana was desperate to get the cushion goal, while Eswatini was looking for that all-important equaliser. But it was not meant to be for coach Helman Mkhalele and his Bafana. They came out top but were also eliminated from the competition.
