South Africa nearly lived to rue their missed chances before the Orlando Pirates star secured a draw
Bafana Bafana nearly paid a heavy price for their wastefulness before they drew 2-2 with Uganda after substitute Thalente Mbatha scored a late equaliser in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
South Africa started the match as heavy favourites, playing in front of home fans at the Orlando Stadium, but after a brilliant first half, they went to sleep after the break and allowed Uganda to come close to grabbing all three points with two quickfire goals in the second half.
Bafana Bafana should not have found themselves in such a situation given their dominant display in the first half.
Lyle Foster gave South Africa a 14th-minute lead after good work from Khulios Mudau. The Mamelodi Sundowns right-back brought in a good pass for Foster and the Burnley forward, who was already on the move, lifted the ball past Uganda goalkeeper Ismail Watenga to break the deadlock.
That was after Oswin Appollis had made a first attempt on goal with a left-footed shot which the custodian saved.
All Bafana Bafana in the first half
By this time, it had been an open game with Uganda easily making runs in the South Africa half but poor finishing let them down.
Bafana Bafana looked disjointed in the middle of the pack as there was a big gap between the defence and midfield which Uganda were exploiting but lacked the quality to finish off their opportunities.
Appollis then had another great chance to make it 2-0 for South Africa but fired a tame shot which the goalkeeper easily gathered while Elias Mokwana should have scored when played in by Aubrey Modiba but somehow, missed an open goal to the disappointment of Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo who among those watching in the stands.
Apppollis then danced past his markers and fired at the Uganda keeper who saved again while a neat exchange of passes which saw Themba Zwane find Foster with a backheel resulted in a good shot from the Burnley forward which Watenga expertly punched out for a corner.
South Africa would go into halftime with just a one-goal lead, having made 10 attempts, six on target while their opponents had managed just two, but none on goal.
Uganda shocked South Africa after the break
Things changed in the second half, however, as Uganda came out aggressively and South Africa would rue their earlier misses.
A high pressing situation saw Uganda win the ball in midfield before Denis Omedi beat Levi Mothwa in the Bafana Bafana goal with a stunning shot from outside the box to equalise in the 51st minute.
No sooner had South African fans absorbed the shock than the sucker punch arrived. Against the run of play, Rogers Mato fired home a long-range shot which Mothwa should have saved but he fumbled the ball and watched it fly past him into the back of the net.
Mothwa’s shaky display then nearly saw him robbed of the ball as he attempted to play out from the back with Hugo Broos’ men all over the place at this time.
Where are Hugo Broos' men in Group K?
Nothing seemed to work from this point as South Africa looked out of ideas with Mudau constantly bullied off the ball.
Broos then made changes in a bid to steady the ship, Elias Mokwana and Sphephelo Sithole going off for Iqraam Rayners and Thapelo Morena before Zwane was replaced by Rekebohile Mofokeng as Mbatha replaced Appollis.
However, the Ugandans held firm and appeared destined to grab maximum points until Mbatha fired home a low shot deep into injury time to save South Africa the blushes.
It is still blow for Broos who was looking for maximum points to build on ahead of next Tuesday’s clash away to South Sudan and it leaves Congo Brazzaville top of Group K with three points while South Africa and Uganda have one point each.
