MABIZELA’S GOALS GIVES BAFANA VICTORY
South African captain Mbulelo Mabziela scored two goals to hand his country an unconvincing 2-1 win over the Cape Verde Islands at the start of their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The Tottenham Hotspur reserve blasted home a free kick just before half-time and then netted a spectacular long-range shot in the second half to give South Africa all three points in the debut for new coach Stuart Baxter.
But Baxter admitted his side were far from impressive and said they had panicked and lost discipline after the Cape Verdian side pulled a goal back in the 78th minute.
Janicio scored with a snap shot on the full volley to give the islanders, who are ranked 144th in the world, a chance for a surprise result.
Minutes later Calo missed after rounding South African goalkeeper Hans Vonk, who then dropped a ball in the last minute which Lito failed to capitalise on.
“It was nice to win but we have a lot of work to do,” said Baxter, who side travel to Ghana in a fortnight for their next qualifier.