Posted in News on Nov 16, 2009.
Parreira, who replaced fellow countryman Joel Santana last
month, had an immediate effect. While there were a lot of bad
mistakes made by Bafana this was by far their gutsiest performance
since reaching the semifinals of the Confederations Cup in June.
Bafana showed fight and, as promised by skipper Aaron Mokoena,
the players were prepared to put their bodies on the line to get a
result against a Japanese side that have already qualified for the
2010 World Cup in South Africa next June.The draw ended a series of poor defeats under Santana and Bafana
go into Tuesday's friendly against Jamaica in Bloemfontein with a
lot of confidence and morale restored.
South Africa battled to get into the match due to a lot of
pressure from the kick-off by Japan, ranked 40th in the world, who
showed they were not in the Windy City for a holiday camp. The South Africans were under a lot of pressure against the more
composed and better organised Japanese side who had control of the
opening 25 minutes.Parreira persisted with the two defensive midfielders, Macbeth
Sibaya and the out of form Kagisho Dikgacoi, his predecessor Joel
Santana so loved. That forced strikers Benni McCarthy and Katlego Mphela to
come deep to get the ball during the opening half an hour.
But Parreira was determined that Bafana keep their shape and
kill the visitors' threat in the midfield where Japan looked
dangerous when going forward.But all credit to Parreira who made three bold substitutions in
the 68th minute when he took off ineffective playmaker Teko Modise,
replaced by Elrio van Heerden, Dikgacoi, for Reneilwe
Letsholonyane, and the hard working Siphiwe Tshabalala, given a
rest a rest for speedy left wing Daine Klate.
Bafana keeper Moeneeb Josephs pulled off a stunning save in the
11th minute to deny Makoto Hasebe an opening goal. The Wolfsburg
midfield star created an opening and let fly with a vicious
20-metre rocket that Josephs did brilliantly to
fist over his crossbar.Japan's Shinji Okazaki almost punished the hesitant Bafana back
four in the 16th minute when he found himself in space and shaved
the upright with a great shot that had Josephs at full stretch and
that inched past the post.
But as the game progressed, so did the confidence of the near
capacity crowd who willed on the hosts. Tshabalala forced Blue
Samurai goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima to turn his pile driver in the
30th minute for a corner.Tshabalala was having a good game on the wing and was worrying
the Japanese defenders with his pace and skill down the left flank,
while Bafana at that stage were starting to find their feet after a
nervous start, and the near capacity crowd were loving it.
Bafana's right back, Belgium-based Anele Ngcongca, also started
to shine and laid off a fabulous ball to Mphela who, with McCarthy
unmarked and in a better position, decided to go for glory and
blasted over the upright in the 38th minute.
Japan started the second half with the same determination as
they did the first. But after weathering the storm South Africa
started putting the Blue Samurai defence under pressure. Then for some reason, when Bafana were on attack in the 56ht
minute and looking for an opening, defender Morgan Gould, who was
up supporting his attack, played back the ball and ruined what was
a promising move. That cautious move from Gould was certainly not
on Parreira's half-time script or team talk.
It underlined again how desperate South Africa were to defend a
0-0 scoreline. But they refused to buckle and started playing with
a lot more confidence in the second half, taking the game to their
more experienced and higher ranked opponents. And another top drawer save by Josephs from an Okazaki shot
denied Japan a goal in the 79th minute as the visitors mounted
another dangerous attack.
Bafana finished stronger and had Japan under pressure during the
lengthy five minutes optional time that Angolan referee Romvaldo
Baltazar somehow found to play.
