South Africa mistakenly play for draw and exit Nations Cup

A LITTLE more than a year after hosting a successful World Cup, South Africa woke up with a giant hangover yesterday after a failure to understand the rules saw them miss out on qualification for the African Nations Cup.

Coach Pitso Mosimane admitted he had changed tactics and played for a draw in Saturday’s final qualifier at home to Sierra Leone, thinking it was sufficient to win the group and qualify for the 2012 finals.

South Africa actually needed a win to avoid being eliminated on head-to-head results between the three teams tied at the top of the table, but no one appeared to have studied the regulations correctly. Despite playing out the draw, they were pipped by outsiders Niger, who qualified for the first time.

More embarrassingly, the Bafana Bafana celebrated their supposed qualification at the end of the scoreless stalemate in Nelspruit, thinking they had done enough to advance to next year’s finals co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

“It’s very sad for South Africa because the country deserves to be in next year’s Nations Cup. I feel like I have failed,” Mosimane told reporters.

The coach, who took over after the World Cup, was under the impression that goal difference was the determining factor to decide the group winners and when he was told that leaders Niger were losing in Egypt, he changed tactics and settled for a draw. Niger had led South Africa by a point going into the final round of qualifiers on Saturday.

“Do you think I would have left [striker Lehlohonolo] Majoro on the bench and put on a midfielder if I knew that we needed a goal? It doesn’t make sense,” Mosimane said, before criticising the regulations. “Africa is a jungle, my friend. The European and South American formats are so much better, because everything is running smoothly, but it’s very difficult to play in Africa.”

Mosimane was not the only one to fall foul of a misreading of the rules.The state-run African Broadcasting Corporation proclaimed qualification and the South African Football Association president Kirsten Nematandani went on television to congratulate the team. He and Mosimane are now likely to face calls to resign, while last night the South Africa Football Association launched what appeared a futile appeal to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) “[We] wish to signal that we intend to challenge this interpretation and application of the rules,” a statement said, adding that goal difference is the “the universally recognised means of separating teams”.

Angola leapfrogged Uganda at the top of Group J by winning 2-0 in Guinea-Bissau to qualify for January’s Africa Cup of Nations finals, thanks to goals from Manucho and Mateus Galiano, meaning heartbreak for former Kilmarnock and Hibernian manager Bobby Williamson, whose Ugandan team blew their chance of qualifying for the African Nations Cup for the first time since 1978 when they were held 0-0 by Kenya in Kampala.

It was a spectacular collapse by Uganda, who seemed to have made their qualification a formality with two rounds of fixtures remaining. But Williamson’s team took only one point from their final two games to end on 11, while Angola took the maximum six to progress with 12 points. Uganda had seen their preparations for the Kenya match overshadowed by a training camp row involving Hearts triker David Obua – who played no part.

The Cranes had the majority of possession and never looked in danger of conceding – but without Obua in their ranks, they wasted a number of chances and paid a heavy price for their profligacy. Williamson said after the game that he was devastated by their failure to qualify but still hoped to serve the remainder of contract – which runs until the World Cup in 2014.

The Ugandan Football Federation, Fufa, are expected to make an announcement on his future later this month.

“It is a big disappointment that we did not score,” said Fufa president Rogers Mulindwa. “What has not been disappointing, however, is that the Cranes played relatively well and put pressure on the Harambee Stars.”