Bafana Bafana were held to an uninspiring goalless draw by Eswatini during their international friendly at the FNB Stadium on Friday night.
It was once again a disappointing supporter turnout, as the 95 000 FNB capacity stadium was relatively empty.
Coach Hugo Broos made some notable changes to his usual starting line-up, which saw US-based midfielder Njabulo Blom, Khanyisa Mayo and goalkeeper Veli Mothwa all being given the nod.
As expected, Bafana started the game on the front foot and Themba Zwane came close to opening the scoring inside five minutes, when his tame shot at close range was saved by goalkeeper Khanyakwenze Shabalala after some good passage of play.
The home side enjoyed most of the ball possession, as they spent most of their time inside the final third of the opposition.
Bafana kept on knocking on the door but failed to create enough clear-cut goal scoring opportunities to trouble the goalkeeper.
Deep in the first half, the visitors almost stunned Bafana, when Eswatini striker Mxolisi Mkhontfo got a golden opportunity to put his side ahead going into the break, but his miscued shot fell into the hands of Mothwa.
Broos made an instant reaction to the uninspiring first half with a triple substitution, when he introduced Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Kaizer Chiefs duo Sibongiseni Mthethwa and Mduduzi Mdantsane. Making way for them was Mihlali Mayambela, Teboho Mokoena and Zwane.
Bafana picked up from where they left off, as they continued banging on the visitors’ door, but they still couldn’t penetrate the stubborn Eswatini defense.
Eswatini did, however, have moments in the game, but all their efforts were not dangerous enough to cause troubles for Mothwa.
Broos made three more changes as he was looking for the late winner when he threw in Grant Kekana, Paseka Mako, and in-form striker Zakhele Lepasa to pair up with Burnley’s Lyle Foster upfront – but it was not meant to be as they had to settle for a draw.
Bafana will now prepare for a long trip to west Africa, where they will face Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) hosts Ivory Coast on Tuesday.
