WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY | AMADOU GON COULIBALY STADIUM | 19:00
With Bafana Bafana recording their biggest ever margin of victory at AFCON last time out, they have fired their way into contention for qualification. Standing in their way are a Tunisia outfit who have conceded the opening goal in both their AFCON fixtures.
To win (90 min)
South Africa 51/20
Draw 33/20
Tunisia 12/10
SOUTH AFRICA
After an opening day defeat to Yves Bissouma’s Mali, South Africa smashed Namibia by four goals to the good to announce their arrival at AFCON. Indeed, that was just the second time that Bafana Bafana have scored four or more goals in an AFCON fixture, with the other also being a 4-1 win against Namibia, in 1998.
Bafana Bafana have amassed 3 points, after their two AFCON fixtures. One can only describe their opening day defeat to Mali as a game of two halves. Indeed, the game could have taken a dramatic turn should Percy Tau have converted his spot kick in the 19th minute, after Maseko drew a foul in the box. Tau would go on to finish the match with 5 attempts to his name – none finding its way to the back of the net.
Hugo Broos’ men would go on to start the game strong against Namibia, opening the scoring through Tau, from the penalty spot … You just can’t make this stuff up! Former Sundowns teammate, Themba Zwane, would add a quickfire double that saw Bafana take a 3 nil lead into the half time interval. Maseko added a fourth in the final half an hour to make one thing clear – the Sundowns imprint is more than evident in the South African national team.
TUNISIA
Tunisia’s AFCON campaign got off to an embarrassing start – defeat on opening day by a Namibia side who are ranked 87 places behind them on the FIFA rankings. To add injury to insult, that victory was the Brave Warriors’ first at AFCON, coming in their 10th such appearance at the tournament.
Tunisia secured their ticket for AFCON in some fashion – conceding just a single goal across their six qualifiers. Despite finishing top of their qualifying group, their defensive unit has been picked apart in Ivory Coast. The Eagles of Carthage are yet to keep a clean sheet, with Namibia and Mali each attempting 10+ shots across their respective fixtures.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Cophenagen’s Elias Achouri, Sheffield’s Ben Slimane, Zamalek’s Seifeddine Jaziri or veteran hitman Youssef Msakni have failed to open their account at the tournament. With one point after two fixtures, Jalel Kadri will be forced to shake things up in this one.
PREDICTION: Back a Bafana win!
Bafana Bafana have bought themselves some breathing room, with their emphatic 4 nil romp over Namibia. The same can’t be said for their opponents. Tunisia registered 12 shots in their previous bout with Mali, with just one attempt being on target. The Sundowns machine is firmly up and running – Bafana Bafana should get this one over the line as they progress to the knockouts.
Written by Desh Parthab