I have had the fortune of watching Bafana Bafana several times, but looking back at some of their displays, I could not find one that could come close to Tuesday’s confident destruction of Spain.
There have been performances that, while below par, still led to great results, such as in March 2011 when a last-minute goal handed South Africa victory over Egypt in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Having watched Gordon Igesund’s team confound predictions to stun the world champions – and critics like this writer – in Tuesday’s friendly, I have looked at several friendlies which I thought would come close, but in the end, I have to rank this week’s showing as Bafana’s very best in a friendly match, given not just the performance or result, but the type of opposition. So, here are my top 10 Bafana performances in friendlies:
1 v Spain (1-0: November 2013)
You couldn’t have asked for better opposition than a Spanish side featuring Iniesta, Busquets, Casillas, Pedro and Alonso. We travelled to Soccer City fearing a rout, but in the end Bafana outdid themselves and could actually have won by more than Bernard Parker’s goal.
2 v Ghana (1-0: August 2010)
This was a month after the World Cup, where the Black Stars had won over the entire continent by being Africa’s only team to advance to the knockout phase. Thousands packed Soccer City to watch a match which looked like a routine victory for Ghana, but the west Africans were beaten through Katlego Mphela’s lone goal.
3 v Cameroon (3-2: November 2008)
It was the Teko Modise show in Rustenburg when the midfielder netted twice in this thriller against the Indomitable Lions, who arrived in the country without Samuel Eto’o. But they still sent in a competitive team which had Alex Song and Idriss Kameni, the goalkeeper who Modise beat with an exquisite free-kick.
4 v France (0-0: October 2000)
Les Bleus were without Zinedine Zidane when they met Bafana at Ellis Park, but that did not detract from the fact they – like Spain – were world and European champions at the time. Greats such as Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira made the trip, but Carlos Queiroz’s Bafana restricted them to a scoreless draw with a dogged performance.
5 v Brazil (2-3: April 1996)
Bafana missed a big opportunity to fell the reigning world champions when goals from Phil Masinga and Doctor Khumalo gave them a comfortable half-time lead. The wheels came off in the second spell when the Selecao staged an incredible comeback to strike three times.
6 v Paraguay (3-0: March 2008)
This was the last match of Carlos Alberto Parreira’s first spell, after which he announced he had to quit because his wife was “ill”. But it was Paraguay, at the time ranked in the top 10 in the world, who were made to look sick by Bafana’s slick play at Atteridgeville. Benni McCarthy, Surprise Moriri and Siphiwe Tshabalala scored.
7 v Nigeria (2-1: November 2004)
In the months leading to this game the Super Eagles had hammered SA 4-0 in the Nations Cup in Tunisia. But Stuart Baxter’s men got some consolation at Ellis Park, scoring through Shaun Bartlett and Benedict Vilakazi to achieve what no other Bafana side have managed – a win over Nigeria.
8 v Australia (2-2: August 2008)
A stunning comeback, this was. There were no goals in the first half, but Bafana took the lead in the second half through Siyabonga Nkosi, and the Socceroos bounced back with two goals. Teko Modise then got SA level to ensure parity at Loftus Road, London.
9 v Turkey (2-0: May 2002)
This was Bafana’s final pre-World Cup warm-up match, and Jomo Sono’s team really acquitted themselves in beating the Turks. McCarthy was on song, scoring both goals in a match dominated by the South Africans two weeks before their World Cup opener against Paraguay.
10 v Sweden (1-0: November 1999)
Since readmission, Bafana had failed to beat an European side, and it looked like that poor record would continue when the Swedes, at Loftus Versfeld, held them off for 86 minutes. Siyabonga Nomvethe had other ideas, however, as he scored the only goal of the match.
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