Johannesburg — Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane is a worried man after his charges failed to punish minnows Niger in a 2012 African Nations Cup qualifier they were supposed to win by a huge margin here at the weekend.
As only one team from Group G will be assured of qualifying for the 2012 continental showpiece, goal difference could decide the group.
A frustrated Mosimane said he hoped that his embarrassingly impotent charges do not end up looking back with regret at the litany of missed opportunities.
"You could see (by) my body language that I was very frustrated," a crestfallen Mosimane said. "The only worry I have is that we don't live to regret those missed chances after our last qualifier should it come down to goal difference."
Bafana had to settle for a 2-0 win before a 40 000-strong crowd at Mbombela Stadium when they should have buried the totally outclassed Nigeriens under an avalanche. Goals from Katlego Mphela and Dutch-based striker Bernard Parker in the first half gave Bafana the victory.
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But it was the shocking display in front of goal that proved to be the main talking point after Mphela, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Kermit Erasmus and Teko Modise, among others, took turns in demonstrating what not to do inside the penalty area. It was shocking.
Mphela could have easily scored a hat trick and yet only had one goal to show for his trouble. It is still a mystery why debutant Erasmus suddenly froze and became lead-footed in front of an open goal, with Niger goalkeeper Kassali Daouda seemingly beaten.
Niger are considered the minnows of the group, and the team that scores the most goals against the paperweight West Africans is expected to qualify for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Fears abound that African champions Egypt and Sierra Leone will now be in the driving seat as they know they only have to score more than the paltry two goals that Bafana managed here in Nelspruit to have their destiny in their own hands.
Mosimane, for his part, said he was concerned that he could relive the disappointment that saw Bafana fail to qualify for the second round of the 2010 World Cup in June.
Bafana missed a litany of chances in the World Cup opening match against Mexico, and that 1-1 draw came back to haunt them when goal difference forced the host nation out of the tournament.
"We failed to score goals in the World Cup and those missed chances came back to haunt us. I hope this does not turn out like that too. It is so funny that sometimes we score difficult goals but we suddenly can't finish the easy ones. But I have to be patient," Mosimane said.
So lethargic were Bafana that Niger coach Harouna Doulla said he had reason to be confident when the two teams meet in the return leg in Niamey. "We had a very good game but SA played better," he said.
"We came here to get a very good result and to stop the South African team from scoring. We planned to possibly surprise them in their own backyard given the chance.
"We have to thank our goalkeeper (Kassali Daouda) for keeping the score what it was and we can correct this result when we welcome you (Bafana) at home," Doulla said.
Mosimane said he could at least find some positives after what was his first official match in charge and build on them. "We showed dominance on tactics, on finding each other and on passing the ball around. I was happy that my players showed talent and were able to express themselves on the ball. I think that in a way we achieved our objective, which was to win the game."
The qualifying campaign will now take Bafana to Freetown, where they will tackle Sierra Leone in what should be a tricky away encounter next month.
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