Bafana Bafana were knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers due to Ghana’s superior goals scored. Both nations were tied on 13 points after six matches having lost one game apiece.
Maguette Ndiaye’s poor officiating
As a South African, poor officiating is something I see often in the local league for the last few seasons and the federation has been suspending incompetent referees every campaign. What we saw in the Bafana Bafana game was next level, the referee was shambolic from start to finish. Before the dubious penalty, Ghana’s Jordan Ayew went one-on-one with Ronwen Williams where he hit the side net and the ref wrongfully awarded a corner when Williams was nowhere near the missed ball.
More soft set pieces went in favour of Ghana while Bafana were not getting anything from the match officials. Frustration creeped in on our boys but they stood firm and looked equal to the task. The Black Stars weren’t getting any clear-cut chances until the ref decided to gift them with a very controversial penalty which many feel it wasn’t the correct decision, even some Ghanaians shared the same sentiment. What confused many is the fact that we don’t know if Rushine De Reuck was penalised for pushing or pulling Daniel Amartey.
Not having VAR
It’s embarrassing that we still don’t have VAR in Africa, especially in World Cup qualifiers that carry so much weight. World Cup qualifiers should have VAR as they are very important and a country gets a shot once every four years. In the first leg, Percy Tau scored a legitimate goal against Ghana at the FNB stadium but was flagged offside and that goal would’ve made a difference in yesterday’s outcome.
Having a venue that’s more than four hours away from the airport
According to veteran journalist Robert Marawa, Bafana Bafana travelled nine hours from Accra to the Cape Coast Stadium where the match was played. This could’ve been a strategic move from the Ghanaian’s a country that is no stranger to gamesmanship.