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| South Africa's Thulani Serero. The Bafana Bafana will need to be up on their feet full time to avoid crashing out of AFCON |
Pre-tournament favorites, Ghana and South Africa could be
saying goodbye to the Africa Cup of Nations should they fail to get results
against Algeria and Senegal respectively.
Both teams are on the verge of exiting the competition at
its infant stage having both surrendered leads in their opening matches. South
Africa conceded three goals in 15 minutes in their 3-1 defeat to Algeria having
taken the lead six minutes after the interval.
Ghana surged ahead of Senegal with an Andre Ayew first half penalty
but the Teranga Lions drew level through Mame Diouf before Fenerbahce attacker Moussa
Sow completed the comeback with a last minute goal in a 2-1 win.
The defeats mean both teams must avoid a repeat of the same
if they are to keep their hopes alive although getting a draw would spice up
things further heading into the final group stage matches.
South Africa’s job looks tougher given Senegal’s recent form
which has seen them lose only once in their last 14 matches in all
competitions. Allain Giresse’s side have won all their last five matches
keeping three clean sheets in the process and with a dangerous frontline headed
by Diouf, Sow and Papiss Cisse, the Bafana defence will need to concentrate for
90 minutes.
Ephraim Mashaba’s South Africa created enough chances against
Algeria and they could have claimed an easy victory but decadence in front of
goal put paid to their hopes. It will be a contrasting game as far as player
composition is concerned with all of Senegal’s 23-man squad plying their trade
abroad while South Africa has 18 out of their 23 playing in the domestic league.
Top-ranked African team Algeria, will enter the
quarterfinals if they beat Ghana.
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