ONCE again, the fate of South Africa in a top soccer competition is now in the hands of other sides.
After playing to a 1-1 draw with Senegal on Friday night, Bafana Bafana will not only have to beat Ghana on Tuesday but will also rely on Senegal overcoming Algeria if they are to advance beyond the Afcon group stages.
As it now stands, after all four Group C sides have played two games, Senegal with wins over Ghana and a draw against SA have four points.
Should Senegal beat Algeria on Tuesday they will top the group with seven points and progress to the knock-out stages.
Algeria, with a win against Bafana and a loss to Ghana, would remain on three points should they lose.
A South African triumph against Ghana would see us through with four points in second place, while Ghana would remain on three points and fall by the wayside with Algeria.
So it’s all to play for on Tuesday, with prayers and permutations to determine the outcome in yet another tantalising presentation by the fickle soccer gods.
The fact is, while they have lost one and drawn one, Bafana could easily have been sitting in the comfortable position of six points from two wins.
Their 3-1 loss to Algeria and the weekend’s 1-1 draw with Senegal did not reflect or reward their, at times, brilliant form on attack and in the midfield, where they were more than equal to their opponents.
In both games they surrendered leads and squandered great chances and on other nights could have worn post-match smiles rather than frowns.
Friday was a case in point as they shut down almost every foray by the much-vaunted Senagalese side.
They worked hard, giving away little space and their tight marking allowing Senegal no time on the ball.
The same could be said of the opposition, who denied Bafana strikers Sibusiso Vilakazi and Thuso Phala on a couple of occasions with timely first half tackles and blocking of shots fired at goal.
But there was no denying Oupa Manyisa just two minutes after the resumption, when he calmly placed a square cross into the far corner to the delight of coach Shakes Mashaba, the team and the entire rainbow nation.
Other chances also presented themselves, but pre-match fears of containing the tall Senegalese players proved accurate when Kara Mbodji escapes his markers and rose highest to head home a Papa Diop free-kick to level matters at 1-1 on the hour mark.
Try as they could, our boys were unable to make the most of superb build-up play that sadly dissipated in the box.
So, Tuesday night is our date with destiny.
Go, Bafana!
