Bafana book place in Afcon last 16 after draw with Tunisia

This was not the sort of performance Bafana Bafana wanted to announce their arrival in the last 16 stage of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) but coach Hugo Broos will not care that much. 

South Africa played to an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Tunisia at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium on Wednesday night to finish second in Group E with four points from three matches. 

As Bafana celebrated their place in the next round, where they are likely to meet tournament favourites Morocco, Tunisia’s Eagles of Carthage faced the ignominy of first round elimination. 

Bottom of the log Tunisia have only two points from their three matches and their chances of making it as one of the four best third best finishers has been completely eliminated. 

This is because Guinea, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Namibia are on standby on the list of the four best finishers with three points each. 

Broos will be happy with qualification to the next round but the reality is that Bafana will have to improve significantly as the tournament is going to roll out the big guns during the knockout stages. 

In the next round, South Africa will have to produce the scintillating performances that have been dished out by exciting teams like Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde and Senegal. 

In this dull draw against the uninspiring Tunisia side, Bafana failed to replicate the stunning performance they produced when they demolished Namibia 4-0 last weekend. 

Bafana got a scare in the fifth minute when midfielder Sphephelo Sithole went down after he was stamped on by Ellyes Skhiri on the foot, but he was able to continue with the match. 

During the opening exchanges, Tunisia created most of the chances and their offensive dominance was illustrated by winning three corner kicks inside the opening ten minutes. 

Most of the Tunisian attacks came through the right flank where Wajdi Kechrida gave Aubrey Modiba a torrid time with his darting runs and dangerous crosses which were not finished in the South African penalty box. 

South Africa’s closest chance came after 26 minutes when Percy Tau got the better of Montassar Talbi, before delivering a cross to Evidence Makgopa whose close-range header from an awkward position could not find the target. 

Thapelo Morena followed up with another chance for Bafana just after the half-hour mark but his long-range shot flew over the head of alert Tunisian goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said. 

Broos was forced to make a change during the break with right-back Khuliso Mudau, who went down numerous times as a result of hard tackles from Tunisian players, was replaced by Nyiko Mobbie. 

As the clocked ticked towards the end, Tunisia tried their best to get the winner that could have kept them in the tournament but the South African central defence of Grant Kekana and Mothobi Mvala stood firm. 

In the closing stages, Broos introduced the fresh legs of Thabang Monare, Thapelo Maseko and Zakhele Lepasa for Zwane, Morena and Makgopa as Bafana held on to book a place in the next round.