SportsAfrican Cup: South Africa Out, Sudan In, Ghana In

African Cup: South Africa Out, Sudan In, Ghana In

BEVERLY HILLS, March 29, (THEWILL) – As proof of the contemporary claim of there being no minnows in modern football, South Africa failed to qualify through their group for the 2022 TOTAL African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon.

Initial favourites to take the group, Bafana Bafana ended the qualifying series in third place behind group leaders Ghana and Sudan, who qualify instead.

In the final match that decided the fate of the South Africans, the Falcons of Jediane beat Bafana Bafana 2-0 at the Al Hilal Stadium in Omdurman on Sunday to secure their first Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification since 2012 when they reached the quarter finals before losing to 3-0 to eventual winners, the Chipolopolo of Zambia.

Glo

More than any other side, Sudan needed an outright win in their Al-Hilal Stadium while Bafana Bafana needed just a draw to progress. However, it was the home side who bagged all three points to leapfrog the visitors into second with 12 points, one behind Ghana who capped their fine over at the top with a 3-1 win over Sao Tome and Principe in Accra.

Two first half goals from Saifeldin Maki and Mohamed Abdel Rahman were what Herbert Velud’s men took to earn the victory on home soil and return to Africa’s premier competition once again. Saifeldin headed in the opener in the fifth minute and under intense pressure from the South Africans, they lost their defender Faris Abdallah to injury in the 10th minute.

Headers from Lebohang Maboe and Thulani Hlatshwayo, shots from Percy Tau, Luther Singh were handled by the Sudanese defense and keeper Ali Abdalla, who was kept busy throughout as Bafana Bafana searched for the equaliser to assure them of a draw. Only for them to be stunned by a doubling of their deficit when the hosts increased their tally with a second goal. And, it was a beautifully crafted one at that.

At the stroke of the half hour mark Mohammed Abdel-Rahman controlled a long pass from Dhiya Mahjoub and attacked the South African area before taking out Hlatshwayo with some quick, dazzling stepovers and slamming the ball into the roof of the net on his left foot with ferociousness.

South Africa, now chasing two goals to keep their chances hopeful effected a triple substitution with coach Molefi Ntseki introducing Ruzaigh Gamildien, Sandile Hlanti and Lyle Foster for Lebohang Maboe, Tau and Singh. It helped the Bafana Bafana pile on the pressure and Foster almost earned the reputation of a supersub in the 74th minute only for him to blast his shot over with Ali Eshrein, the Sudanese keeper, out of position.

Bafana Bafana’s search for a way back into the match almost became their undoing with the Sudanese springing a devastating counter attacking move at the latter stages of the match but the goalscorer Rahman failed to keep his direction on target and could only find the side netting to miss his brace.

But, their goals were enough to cap a fine display and condemn South Africa to third place, outside the qualification range for Cameroon 2022.

In the other Group game, Nicholas Opoku’s 12th minute opener, Jordan Ayew’s penalty and Baba Rahman’s goal on the nick of the hour mark were all group leaders Ghana required to beat Sao Tome, with the visitors’ consolation goal scored by Iniesta in the 83rd minute of the fixture.

Having won four of their Group C matches, Ghana ended up with 13 points from the six fixtures with one draw and a single loss. Sudan managed to lose two but their four wins, including from beating South Africa on the final matchday, allowed them to join the other African countries with a ticket to the continental tournament next year.

About the Author

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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

Jude Obafemi, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

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