Bafana play to scrappy draw with Andorra

South Africa were held to a scrappy 1-1 draw by European minnows Andorra in a ‘Fifa Series’ International Friendly held at the 19 May 1956 Stadium in Annaba, Algeria, on Thursday night.

A full 106 places separated the sides on the Fifa rankings, but Bafana Bafana (58th) found themselves behind early to the Tricolours (164th) and needed an equaliser from Elias Mokwana, before enduring a frustrating search for a second goal, which ultimately proved elusive.

South Africa coach Hugo Broos opted for an experimental line-up which saw Thapelo Xoki, Mlondi Mbanjwa, Patrick Maswanganyi and Mokwana make their debuts, while Thapelo Morena (22) and Nkosinathi Sibisi (10) were the only players with double-digit caps to their names heading into the game.

Andorra claimed a shock lead in the sixth minute, with South Africa goalkeeper Ricardo Goss mis-controlling a back-pass from Sibisi, which allowed Ricard Fernandez to score into an empty net and register the European side’s first goal since June of 2023.

Bafana took some time to find their rhythm, but gradually built up some attacking pressure and equalised in the 25th minute when Mokwana drove into the penalty area and found the back of the net with a stabbed shot which deflected off a defender and looped over the reach of Andorra goalkeeper Josep Gomes.

South Africa dominated the remainder of the first half, but were unable to create any further clear scoring chances, while the start of the second half saw the introduction of Grant Margeman to give the midfield more impetus.

Bafana almost claimed the lead on 72 minutes when Mokwana did great work down the right flank to set up Maswanganyi with a headed chance, but he saw his effort well saved by Gomes, before a desperate defensive clearance quelled any further threat.

That proved to be the last genuine scoring opportunity, with Andorra able to hold off all further attacks with relative comfort, as the Afcon bronze medal winners were forced to settle for a disappointing but ultimately irrelevant stalemate.

South Africa will play another ‘Fifa Series’ International Friendly on the evening of Tuesday 26 March, taking on hosts Algeria at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.

Andorra (1) 1 (Fernandez 6’)

South Africa (1) 1 (Mokwana 25’)

Andorra: Gomes, San Nicolas, Llovera, Garcia, Rubio (Garcia 66’), Cervos (Gomes 79’), Guillen, Vales (Teixeira 79’), Jordi Alaez (de Pablos 24’), Fernandez (Martinez 66’), Pujol (Sanchez 66’)

SA: Goss, Mokwana, Xoki, Sibisi, Mashego (Mobbie 62’), Morena (Modiba 62’), Monare (Margeman 46’), Mosele, Maswanganyi, Mbanjwa, Mayo (Rayners 80’)