Former Bafana Bafana striker Bongokuhle Hlongwane tucked away a vital penalty for his club Minnesota United as they edged Seattle Sounders in a post-match shootout to advance in the Major League Soccer playoffs.
Hlongwane scored the sixth successful penalty, and ninth kick for his club, in a 7-6 win on kicks after the third of their Western Conference playoff games ended in a 3-3 draw and had to be decided in a shootout.
United had also beaten Seattle on penalties in the first of their three first-round playoff games but then lost the second of the three-match series 4-2 in Seattle on Sunday.
On Saturday night in Minnesota, matters looked bad for the home side when they conceded two goals in the opening 10 minutes. After pulling a goal back, things looked even worse when Joseph Rosales was sent off before halftime.
But Minnesota mounted an incredible comeback to take a 3-2 lead, held on despite a late equaliser, then pulled off an unforgettable 7-6 win in the ensuing shootout, with goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair scoring the decisive kick.
"For us to ultimately come out on top of the game like that is insane," said Minnesota head coach Eric Ramsay after the match.
"The players, first and foremost, showed just an unbelievable level of togetherness and spirit and will to stay in the game, to get ahead in the game and then to overcome what is a really tough blow to concede a goal like that at the end and then the repeated ups and downs and the penalty shootout."
Minnesota face San Diego FC or Portland Timbers in the Conference semifinals later this month. That is a single game rather than a best-of-three affair.
Hlongwane started again up front for Minnesota, who have also used him as right back this season.
He was named by South Africa coach Hugo Broos in the preliminary squad for this week’s friendly against Zambia but again left out of the final selection.
The former Maritzburg United player has not played for Bafana Bafana over the last two years.