Siyabonga Sangweni scored for South Africa against Bulgaria
|
South Africa drew 1-1 with Bulgaria in a friendly as the team continued their build-up to hosting the World Cup. Bafana Bafana played with confidence against a team ranked 51 places above them in the Fifa rankings. Defender Siyabonga Sangweni powered home a header from a Siphiwe Tshabalala corner to give South Africa a deserved 20th-minute lead at Orlando Stadium. Bulgaria equalised in the 31st minute, with their first shot on goal through Parma striker Valeri Bojinov. He was left unmarked in the penalty area and volleyed under goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune. Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira made several changes for the second half, including putting on captain Aaron Mokoena as South Africa pushed for a winner, but they couldn't break through again. "I am happy with the performance," Parreira said. "The best result is always to win but I'm happy with the performance. "We played against a team with a high level. This is the kind of team we are going to have at the World Cup and our boys did not disappoint us." Midfielder Steven Pienaar of Everton and West Ham's Benni McCarthy watched from the bench, but are expected to play against Colombia in South Africa's next friendly on Thursday. In another friendly on Monday Cape Verde managed to hold World Cup-bound Portugal to a 0-0 draw Covilha. Cameroon, meanwhile, are preparing to take on Georgia in Linz, Austria, on Tuesday, in the first of four friendlies scheduled ahead of their World Cup opener against Japan on 14 June. Paul Le Guen's side will also meet Slovakia, Portugal and Serbia ahead of their Group E encounters with the Japanese, Denmark and the Dutch. Star striker Samuel Eto'o will join up with his international teammates fresh from achieving a unique second successive treble-winning season with two different teams. The 29-year-old starred in Inter Milan's Treble-winning campaign, which complemented his trophy-laden season with Barcelona in 2008-2009.
|
~RS~a~RS~International~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~13~RS~){kind=small}
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~13~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Bookmark with:
What are these?