Bafana have strong history against Cameroon

Cameroon and South Africa will clash in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco on Sunday, marking a 10th meeting between the two countries.

Both sides finished runners-up in their respective groups and will clash in Rabat for gthe right to take on either the hosts or Tanzania in the quarterfinals.

Cameroon were the first international opponents for South Africa in 1992, arriving for a three-match tour only days after the country had been admitted as members of FIFA again after their long standing, apartheid-enforced international isolation.

There was no better choice because two years earlier the Cameroonians had shocked, and then thrilled, the globe with their performances at the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy, becoming the first African country to reach the quarterfinals.

The Indomitable Lions played three matches against South Africa, who were still not yet nicknamed Bafana Bafana at that time.

They have since gone on to play six times more against each other with South Africa having a strong record against Cameroon with three victories to one loss and five draws, including the last three encounters.

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They have not met since a pair of Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in 2016, when current Bafana coach Hugo Broos was in charge of Cameroon, just months before he led them to continental glory at the 2017 Cup of Nations finals.

The first game was played on a rainy night in Durban in July 1992 and looked to be heading for a goalless draw before a generous penalty award allowed Doctor Khumalo to score South Africa’s first-ever international goal in the 82nd minute.

The teams met again two days later at Cape Town’s Goodwood Showgrounds, now a sprawling casino and hotel complex, and two goals from Jacob Ewane won the day for Cameroon.

Bafana had taken the lead after Jules Onana put the ball into his own net in the eighth minute, but the visitors were level just a minute later as Ewane scored his first, before netting the winner just before the final whistle. This was despite Cameroon playing with nine men from the hour mark after red cards for Onana and Jean-Claude Pagal.

A third game in five days on the whistlestop tour ended in a 2-2 draw at Soccer City.

The only previous meeting between the two countries at the Cup of Nations came in the opening game of the 1996 tournament that Bafana went on to win. Phil Masinga, Mark Williams and John ‘Shoes’ Moshoeu scored in a comfortable 3-0 victory.

Ahead of the 2017 finals in Gabon, the pair met in the qualifiers and drew 2-2 at Limbe in March 2016 with Hlompho Kekana netting a superb goal from all of 60 yards after catching the goalkeeper off his line to put Bafana 2-1 up.

The return fixture came just three days later in Durban as the teams played out a tepid 0-0 draw, with Hugo Broos setting up a defensive display to get a vital away point.