MAURITIUS SHOCK BAFANA BAFANA
South Africa suffered a further setback after a week of chaotic
preparations, beaten 2-0 by Mauritius in the Cosafa Castle Cup
on Saturday.
The surprise loss to the Indian Ocean islanders followed the suspension
of coach Ephraim Mashaba earlier this week and left the country's
squad in crisis just two weeks before the start of the African
Nations Cup finals in Tunisia.
The cup tie in the annual regional competition was designed to
be an easy preparatory game for South Africans ahead of their
departure to the Nations Cup but backfired as the lowly-ranked
Mauritius scored twice in the second half to claim a major scalp.
South Africa's Russian-based defender Jacob Lekgetho put past
his own goalkeeper eight minutes into the second half attempting
to clear a harmless-looking cross from Gilbert Bayaram.
Mauritius, who crowded the midfield and effectively dealt with
South Africa's wingers, added a second on the counter attack in
the 81st minute through Christopher Perle.
"It's the biggest win in Mauritius soccer history," said coach
Rajesh Gunesh, taking charge of his first match. "We out thought
them tactically and deserved to win."
South Africa traveled with just 16 players to the island under
caretaker coach Styles Phumo, who took over on Thursday, but have
drawn heavy criticism by also taking 18 officials along with them.
Mashaba was suspended on Wednesday by the South African Football
Association, who accused him of being in breach of his contract.
Mashaba's terse relationship with key overseas-based players plus
his failure to keep tabs on the performance of South African players
in Europe were cited as the reasons for his suspension.
South Africa are set to go to the Nations Cup finals without five
key players who have made themselves unavailable, including Manchester
United's Quinton Fortune and the FC Porto striker Benni McCarthy.
Officials said a final decision on the coach would be made before
Friday, when the South Africans are set to depart for Tunisia
via Senegal, where they will play another warm-up match.