DURBAN – Bafana Bafana reigned supreme in the Cosafa Cup plate final as they edged Malawi 5-4 on penalties at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday night.
Both sides failed to find the back of the net in 120 minutes.
Malawi missed three penalties and converted four, while Bafana netted five spot-kicks to win the plate final.
The game was played at an electric pace. Both benches showed their appetite to score more goals as they pushed more numbers into the final third.
South Africa were denied by the woodwork in the first half.
Luther Singh pinpointed Kamohelo Mahlatsi with a lovely delivery on the left-hand side, but his attempted header hit the framework and Malawi survived in the 30th minute.
Malawi were also kept at bay the framework when Gerald Phiri curled a dangerous corner into the box, but the ball struck the cross-bar.
Bafana dominated the second half as they enjoyed the majority of the possession, but they fluffed plenty of opportunities.
Liam Jordan hit the post, while Mahlatsi was also wasteful in front of goals.
It was an entertaining game, and both sides created numerous goal-scoring chances, but they couldn’t convert them into goals.
The tempo dropped in extra time. Bafana continued to dominate possession, but lacked a sense of agency in the final third.
It was understandable, because it was their third game in a space of six days.
Gift Links fluffed his lines in the last five minutes of extra time.
He was put through by Mahlatsi, but Brighton Munthali was alert as he came out to clear the danger.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/CosafaPlate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CosafaPlateafter beating Malawi 5 - 4 on penalties! The match had ended goalless after 120 minutes of grueling football pic.twitter.com/lvcrxwaw60
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana)
@Minenhlecr7