Lebogang Phiri Strike Hands Bafana Bafana Victory Over Sudan In Afcon Qualifier

Bafana Bafana collected their first set of points with a 1-0 win over Sudan at Orlando Stadium on Sunday afternoon to get their qualifying campaign back on track for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Lebogang Phiri scored the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time with a thunderous shot from close range to see Bafana Bafana join Ghana and Sudan on three points in a major recovery from their 2-0 loss at the hands of Ghana last week.

Coach Molefi Ntseki in only his second competitive match made six changes to the team that started against Ghana as he was desperate for maximum points in the must-win encounter.

Thulani Serero who started the match in one of the changes from the Ghana tie had a low cross poorly cleared by the Sudan back-four and Phiri ferociously pounced on the opportunity that left Sudanese goalkeeper Abu Eshrein with no chance to save.

Bafana got all the three points but really struggled and failed to overpower a Sudan side ranked 128 on the FIFA rankings.

The AFCON 2021 qualifiers with two games played will now take a nine-month break.

The Black Stars are however expected to close the year top of the group after match-day two as they take on the lowly-ranked São Tomé today.

Bafana Bafana will resume their Afcon qualification campaign in between World Cup qualifiers with back-to-back matches against Sao Tome & Principe (while Sudan will face Ghana) in August-September next year.

South Africa will then welcome Ghana in October for an epic home clash before Molefi Ntseki’s charges travel to Sudan for their final Group C match in November with two teams from the group qualifying for AFCON 2021 to be held in Cameroon.

BAFANA BAFANA 2021 AFCON QUALIFIERS:

November 15, 2019: Bafana Bafana 0-2 Ghana (A)

November 19, 2019: Bafana Bafana 1-0 Sudan (H)

September 4, 2020: v São Tomé (H)

September 8, 2020: v São Tomé (A)

October 10, 2020: v Ghana (H)

November 13, 2020: v Sudan (A)

By Gerald Dandah