South Africa continued their stuttering buildup to next month's World Cup with another poor performance when they played to a goalless draw against fellow World Cup qualifiers Ecuador in Murcia, Spain.
With coach, Jomo Sono preferring to watch the England-Paraguay friendly in
Liverpool, Bafana Bafana, comprising mostly untried local players, appear
to have made no ground in their World Cup preparations.
To add insult to injury Sono's assistant Trott Moloto was sent off in the
69th minute after kicking the ball onto the field in anger after
disagreeing with the referee's decision.
Bleak prospects
The only Bafana Bafana player to enhance his World Cup claims was
experienced goalkeeper Andre Arendse, who looked assured throughout the
game.
He showed his class when he pulled off a brilliant save in the first
half when he tipped Tenorio's powerful close range header over the bar.
The Ecuadorians looked much more comfortable on the ball and were able to
string together a few flowing movements which troubled the South African
defence.
In contrast Bafana Bafana looked a disjointed outfit resembling a
team which had not seen each other before.
Sono maintains that his World Cup preparations are on track but with only
six weeks to go time is running out as he has yet to decide on a settled
combination.
At this stage to road to the World Cup is looking decidedly bleak for South
Africa.
