Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos heaped praise on his team after they drew 3-3 with hosts Algeria in their Fifa Series Friendly International at the Nelson Mandela International Stadium, in Algiers, on Tuesday.
Following their 1-1 draw with lower-ranked Andorra in the first of the two match Fifa Series last week, South Africa were hoping for a better performance against an Algeria side ranked 43rd in the world.
It was also a timely result as rumours of Broos’ jumping ship for the Tunisian national team emerged on Monday, and this good result should help pour cold water on such speculation.
A brace from Themba Zwane and a goal from Iqraam Rayners helped Bafana complete an impressive high-scoring draw, against the opposition ranked 15 spots ahead in the Fifa world rankings.
‘We have progressed’
“What a game! It was a fantastic game from both teams, but the performance of South Africa was really, really good,” said Broos afterwards.
“We played against a very strong team, but I do not think there was much difference between the quality of our game and the quality of the game of Algeria. That means we have progressed in the last few months.”
The Algerians were the first to get their name up on the stadium scoreboard when Yassine Benzia opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. The visitors stormed back and equalised through Zwane in the 34th minute following a cross from Mihlali Mayambela.
Bafana then took the lead in the 47th minute when Zwane beat goalkeeper Moustafa Zeghba with a beautiful strike just before the break.
Algeria clawed their way back when Brahimi equalised to make it 2-2 in the 53rd minute. Bafana regained the lead when Rayners made it 3-2 in the 65th minute, but Benzia equalised in the 70th minute to make it 3-3.
There would be no further change in the score, but given the nature of the clash both teams would be more than satisfied with the outing with Fifa World Cup qualifiers on the horizon.
Supplied