Bafana get draw, but it could have been much better

09 October 2016 - 04:56 By TSHEPANG MAILWANEat Stade Du 4 Aout, Burkina Faso

Shakes Mashaba put his hands on his hips and wondered how on earth Bafana Bafana let victory slip out of their hands so easily here last night. Shakes Mashaba put his hands on his hips and wondered how on earth Bafana Bafana let victory slip out of their hands so easily here last night.Bafana were on their way to a fantastic victory in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso after midfielder Dean Furman scored a goal 10 minutes from time to leave the Burkinabe supporters shell-shocked, but substitute Banou Diawara put the hosts level with a close-range finish in second-half stoppage time.Anyone would be happy to collect a point away from home, but Bafana should not feel this way because they really should have won this match, and, more importantly, they really should have cleared their lines before The Stallions put the ball in the back of the net to send the capacity crowd into raptures.Bafana's preparations ahead of this tie were not ideal, having to train on an artificial pitch on Wednesday after travelling for more than 24 hours via Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to get to Ouagadougou, where they were welcomed with open arms by the locals.The following day, a swarm of bees forced them to change their training venue and start an hour later, but the players were never really affected by any of this.And this was clear when they made a good start to the game last night, sending out an early message with a long-range shot from Mpho Makola which went wide of goal in the first five minutes.Makola was combining well with the likes of Furman, Keagan Dolly and Hlompho Kekana, whose header in the 16th minute was saved by the Burkinabe goalkeeper Koffi Herve.Not to be outdone by the visitors on their turf, The Stallions found some rhythm and started getting forward using the pace and skill of Prejuce Nakoulma, Bertrand Traore and Jonathan Pitroipa.The home side's fans thought their side would go ahead when they were awarded a penalty after Abdou Razak Traore made a rampaging run into the box before his shot connected with Mulomowandau Mathoho's hand in the 10th minute.One of Burkina Faso's heroes, Pitroipa - a man South Africans would know well from the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations - stepped up to take the shot, but his effort was saved by Itumeleng Khune.A few minutes later, when things were a bit calm, Mashaba waved and clapped his hands to say well done to Khune, who made three more good saves in the first half to keep the visitors in the match.When Bafana last played at this venue in 2005 in a Germany World Cup qualifier, they were 2-0 down at half time and went on to lose 3-1.This time, however, they held their own against the Burkinabe and went into the break still goalless. They had a very good chance of winning the match, but they needed to be a bit more forceful in the final third.Alain Traore missed a penalty in the 88th minute, but Diawara rescued the day for the hosts with a last-gasp goal.It was a good performance from Bafana Bafana and the South African Football Association bosses should not press the panic button as yet.Burkina Faso -1South Africa -1..

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