Benni McCarthy spoils the party for Bafana with sucker punch at the death

Just when Bafana Bafana and coach Pitso Mosimane thought they had all three points in the bag, Benni McCarthy’s Kenyan side had the last say, as they scored an equaliser at the death to ensure that they return home with a big point.

Bafana and Kenya played to a 2-2 draw at the Orlando Arena in their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group K encounter on Friday night.

Bafana are now on seven points and remain on top of the group with three crucial games remaining. Coach Pitso Mosimane will expect nothing less than a positive reaction in Nairobi, when the two sides meet on Tuesday for the reverse fixture.

For McCarthy, he surely will take a lot of positives from this game, as his side applied themselves well, were tactically disciplined and really did make Bafana sweat.

Just as Mosimane had hinted at his pre-match press conference that he would not be making any unnecessary changes, despite the return of previous regulars Lyle Foster, Thalente Mbatha, and Mbekezeli Mbokazi, the Bafana mentor stuck to his guns and kept the core of the team that played the previous two games.

Kenya caused a scare one minute in the game, when Ronwen Williams was forced to make an early big save. But it was Bafana who registered first on the scoreboard via a calamitous own goal from the visitors 10 minutes into the game.

However, from there onwards, there weren’t many goalscoring opportunities and the two sides looked to play it safe for most parts of the first half, until Kenya scored an equaliser through a penalty at the stroke of half-time to head into the break level.

Former Bafana coach Hugo Broos and his right-hand man Helman Mkhalele were also in attendance.

A very bizarre moment happened in the second half, as the match officials noticed that the Bafana centre-backs Olwethu Makhanya and Ime Okon had mixed up their jersey numbers, something that must have happened during half-time.

The second-half display from both sides, especially Bafana, was much better, as they took the game to the Harambee Stars. The changes made by Mosimane by introducing Puso Dithejane and Foster injected some energy into the game, something that got the crowd up and excited.

Bafana almost increased their lead in the 60th minute, but Relebohile Mofokeng’s effort at close range after some good interplay between him and Oswin Appollis struck the woodwork, leaving Jingles with his hands on his head for about the fourth time in the game.

Mofokeng did, however, get a second bite in the 78th minute, and this time he made no mistake, as he buried the ball inside the back of the net after Foster set him up with a lovely pass to send the Arena into a frenzy.

But it was the visitors who had the final say in the 90th minute, when they punished Bafana for a defensive mistake by Makhanya and ensured that the spoils were shared.

Just when Bafana Bafana and coach Pitso Mosimane thought they had all three points in the bag, Benni McCarthy’s Kenyan side had the last say, as they scored an equaliser at the death to ensure that they return home with a big point.

Bafana and Kenya played to a 2-2 draw at the Orlando Arena in their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group K encounter on Friday night.

Bafana are now on seven points and remain on top of the group with three crucial games remaining. Coach Pitso Mosimane will expect nothing less than a positive reaction in Nairobi, when the two sides meet on Tuesday for the reverse fixture.

For McCarthy, he surely will take a lot of positives from this game, as his side applied themselves well, were tactically disciplined and really did make Bafana sweat.

Just as Mosimane had hinted at his pre-match press conference that he would not be making any unnecessary changes, despite the return of previous regulars Lyle Foster, Thalente Mbatha, and Mbekezeli Mbokazi, the Bafana mentor stuck to his guns and kept the core of the team that played the previous two games.

Kenya caused a scare one minute in the game, when Ronwen Williams was forced to make an early big save. But it was Bafana who registered first on the scoreboard via a calamitous own goal from the visitors 10 minutes into the game.

However, from there onwards, there weren’t many goalscoring opportunities and the two sides looked to play it safe for most parts of the first half, until Kenya scored an equaliser through a penalty at the stroke of half-time to head into the break level.

Former Bafana coach Hugo Broos and his right-hand man Helman Mkhalele were also in attendance.

A very bizarre moment happened in the second half, as the match officials noticed that the Bafana centre-backs Olwethu Makhanya and Ime Okon had mixed up their jersey numbers, something that must have happened during half-time.

The second-half display from both sides, especially Bafana, was much better, as they took the game to the Harambee Stars. The changes made by Mosimane by introducing Puso Dithejane and Foster injected some energy into the game, something that got the crowd up and excited.

Bafana almost increased their lead in the 60th minute, but Relebohile Mofokeng’s effort at close range after some good interplay between him and Oswin Appollis struck the woodwork, leaving Jingles with his hands on his head for about the fourth time in the game.

Mofokeng did, however, get a second bite in the 78th minute, and this time he made no mistake, as he buried the ball inside the back of the net after Foster set him up with a lovely pass to send the Arena into a frenzy.

But it was the visitors who had the final say in the 90th minute, when they punished Bafana for a defensive mistake by Makhanya and ensured that the spoils were shared.

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Just when Bafana Bafana and coach Pitso Mosimane thought they had all three points in the bag, Benni McCarthy’s Kenyan side had the last say, as they scored an equaliser at the death to ensure that they return home with a big point.

Bafana and Kenya played to a 2-2 draw at the Orlando Arena in their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group K encounter on Friday night.

Bafana are now on seven points and remain on top of the group with three crucial games remaining. Coach Pitso Mosimane will expect nothing less than a positive reaction in Nairobi, when the two sides meet on Tuesday for the reverse fixture.

For McCarthy, he surely will take a lot of positives from this game, as his side applied themselves well, were tactically disciplined and really did make Bafana sweat.

Just as Mosimane had hinted at his pre-match press conference that he would not be making any unnecessary changes, despite the return of previous regulars Lyle Foster, Thalente Mbatha, and Mbekezeli Mbokazi, the Bafana mentor stuck to his guns and kept the core of the team that played the previous two games.

Kenya caused a scare one minute in the game, when Ronwen Williams was forced to make an early big save. But it was Bafana who registered first on the scoreboard via a calamitous own goal from the visitors 10 minutes into the game.

However, from there onwards, there weren’t many goalscoring opportunities and the two sides looked to play it safe for most parts of the first half, until Kenya scored an equaliser through a penalty at the stroke of half-time to head into the break level.

Former Bafana coach Hugo Broos and his right-hand man Helman Mkhalele were also in attendance.

A very bizarre moment happened in the second half, as the match officials noticed that the Bafana centre-backs Olwethu Makhanya and Ime Okon had mixed up their jersey numbers, something that must have happened during half-time.

The second-half display from both sides, especially Bafana, was much better, as they took the game to the Harambee Stars. The changes made by Mosimane by introducing Puso Dithejane and Foster injected some energy into the game, something that got the crowd up and excited.

Bafana almost increased their lead in the 60th minute, but Relebohile Mofokeng’s effort at close range after some good interplay between him and Oswin Appollis struck the woodwork, leaving Jingles with his hands on his head for about the fourth time in the game.

Mofokeng did, however, get a second bite in the 78th minute, and this time he made no mistake, as he buried the ball inside the back of the net after Foster set him up with a lovely pass to send the Arena into a frenzy.

But it was the visitors who had the final say in the 90th minute, when they punished Bafana for a defensive mistake by Makhanya and ensured that the spoils were shared.