Bafana Bafana and Algeria played out to a 1-1 draw in their African Nations Championship (CHAN) Group C clash at the Mandela National Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Algeria opened their group campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over hosts Uganda on Monday but were held by a resilient make-shift South Africa squad led by Molefi Ntseki.
With the make-up of the squad dominated by free agents, and Rowan Human not travelling with the team due to an impending move, the squad were always facing an uphill battle.
But they managed to produce a decent display against a Dessert Foxes side dominated by the major stars of the Algerian Ligue 1 as they league kicks off at the end of August.
While Bafana had the bulk of possession, the attacking quality of the North Africans was telling and Abdennour Belhocini opened the scoring just before the half hour mark.
As the game headed into the break, Ntseki’s side found the equaliser as Menzi Masuku broke the offisde trap with a bended run onto a pinpoint delivery from the impressive Malibongwe Khoza who started as a centre-back and later moved into a six role.
Masuku’s first touch found its way to Kutumela, who made no mistake with his finish which set up a tense second half, where both sides had their fair share of chances to put the game to bed.
Algeria had a call for a penalty in the dying minutes, but the player in question Mehdi Merghem was booked for simulation as the game ended with a share of the spoils – with South Africa now turning their attention to Guinea on Monday.
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