Much improved Bafana hold Elephants in Ivory Coast

A Springboks-inspired Bafana Bafana held Ivory Coast to a 1-1 draw in an international friendly played at a packed Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Abidjan on Tuesday night.

Themba Zwane's goal in the eighth minute looked like it might give Bafana a famous and unlikely victory. The Elephants found an equaliser through Sebastien Haller's free header in the 65th minute as the hosts came back stronger in the second half. 

Bafana coach Hugo Broos said before the match Bafana could learn from the resilience shown by the Springboks' stirring performance in their 28-29 World Cup quarterfinal victory over hosts France at the weekend.

That was after Bafana produced one of their more horrendous displays in a 0-0 draw against lowly-ranked Eswatini at the FNB Stadium on Friday, in the first of the two October friendlies aimed at preparation for two 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers next month and Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early next year. 

The Bafana coach made six changes and those seem to aid a far stronger performance from the South Africans.

Skipper Ronwen Williams was back in goal in place of Veli Mothwa after recovering from an injury. Mamelodi Sundowns clubmate Khuliso Mudau was preferred at right-back instead of the regular Nyiko Mobbie. Sphephelo Sithole played alongside Teboho Mokoena in the heart of the midfield while Mothobi Mvala partnered Siyanda Xulu in central defence. 

Broos further made two changes in attack where he brought in Lebo Mothiba for Burnley's Lyle Foster at No 9 and Bongokuhle Hlongwane was installed in place of Khanyisa Mayo on the right side of the attack.

These additions brought greater zeal to Bafana as they started to control the match the moment they took the lead in a stylish way via Zwane's tap-in, finishing after combining well with Sundowns teammate Mokoena. The move came after Bafana's impressive pressing of the home side down the middle, where Portugal-based Sithole was buzzing. 

Bafana were also excellent in containing Wilfried Zaha, Sebastien Haller, Seko Fofana and Jonathan Bamba in the Ivorians' attack. Mudau dealt with Zaha's danger on the right, often robbing the former Crystal Palace winger of the ball, much to the surprise of the home crowd.

If there was any doubt for Broos about who is the stronger right-back between bizarrely ever-present Mobbie and Mudau, the Downs player answered that in a clear way with a brilliant game where he also helped in attack. 

This was a completely different showing by Bafana after the horrendous performance against Eswatini. 

Haller nearly gave Ivory Coast an equaliser in the first half, the tall Borussia Dortmund striker heading a good cross from Ghislain Konan over the bar.

Fofana, too, had a chance to punish Bafana from a poor clearance but shot over just before Haller hit the crossbar after Mvala's back-pass was intercepted inside the area. 

As Ivory Coast pushed for an equaliser in the second half, the game opened up more and Bafana could have stretched their lead in the 53rd minute but Mudau shot wide after a great move from the South Africans. 

Mothiba came close to scoring a minute later but the striker's shot was parried for a corner by goalkeeper Yahia Fofana. Mothiba provided Bafana with an excellent dimension in attack with his ability to hold up the ball for the incoming attackers, something Broos' team may have been lacking in the big Strasbourg man's injury-enforced absence in the past two years.

But as Ivory Coast piled on the pressure in the last 30 minutes Bafana finally conceded when they left Haller alone to steer home Oumar Diakite's superb pass from the right. 

Broos was probably guilty of not refreshing his team early enough in the second half as players seemed to fade. Only Mobbie was brought on for Mihlali Mayambela after 70 minutes but that did not help much as it meant pushing forward an already tired Mudau, who was himself replaced later by another defender, Grant Kekana.

Lyle Foster was only brought on for Hlongwane in the 82nd minute and Sibongiseni Mthethwa replaced Zwane as Broos looked to strengthen the midfield in the last 10 minutes.