Where did it go wrong for Bafana?

Despite the 1-0 defeat by Norway on Tuesday night, Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund said his side is improving as the Africa Cup of Nations draws nearer.

Bafana controlled large parts of the friendly international in Cape Town, enjoying almost 70% of the possession and creating numerous scoring opportunities.

But the figure that counts is the 0 in Bafana's score column - the same figure it achieved when it met Brazil, Poland and Zambia in the last three months of last year. Sceptics may therefore suggest that nothing has changed.

The inexperienced Norwegian side allowed Bafana to go on the attack, waiting for an opportunity to hit the home side on the break.

It is therefore only to be expected that Igesund's men would create chances, but putting the ball in the back of the net is what counts most.

Igesund admitted that his side could have done more with the ball, but insisted his men are on the right track.

He said this was a better performance than their 3-1 win over Malawi late last year.

"We created a lot of opportunities and I am very happy with that," Igesund said.

"We really missed only two or three of those, the rest was some very good goalkeeping. If you look at the chances we had, I can't say I am disappointed with the team - it was a huge improvement on the Malawi game."

Igesund handed Thuso Phala his first start for Bafana, and third cap overall, and the pace of the Platinum Stars winger caused Norway problems.

He could become a key component in a midfield that otherwise looks ponderous at times.

"I am not surprised by what Phala gave us, I expected that from him, it's why I selected him," Igesund said.

"He has strength and pace and he showed that. He runs at players and he created a lot of opportunities for us. I was very happy with that."

Algeria are next up for Bafana on Saturday, and Igesund has acknowledged that the North Africans will prove a sterner test than the inexperienced Norwegian side. But he believes his team will also be better.

"The team is improving but there are a lot of areas in which we want to get better. We passed the ball sideways a bit too much at the back and made a few errors.

"But I am happy for those errors to come now. The bigger picture is that we need to be ready for the Africa Cup of Nations and we will be. We will be a difficult team to beat and we will continue to play attacking football. I can't remember the last time Bafana created this many chances in a game. We just needed a bit of luck."

Luck, yes, but also more cohesion in defence, better passing from the midfield and a cutting edge up front. Igesund has all that in his squad, the question is whether he can package it together in time to face Cape Verde on January 19.