RSA 0-0 SLE
Nelspruit
Whilst Niger are celebrating the fact that they will be making their African Cup of Nations debut next January, Group G’s 2nd-place finishers South Africa are in a mood for complaining, after they failed to read the fine print ahead of Saturday’s encounter with Sierra Leone.
As well as several SAFA officials, national team coach Pitso Mosimane did not properly read CAF’s rules for the tournament, which pointed out that in the event that two or more teams are tied on points, they will be sorted by their head-to-head record. With the belief that they had a higher head-to-head goal difference against Niger (both teams had beaten the other at home), South Africa played their final qualification match with the main objective of a draw, and with Niger’s eventual 3-0 defeat to Egypt, a 0-0 scoreline could have been enough for the Bafana Bafana.
However, they did not consider the fact that Sierra Leone were part of a three-way tie for points at the top, and that their results were also drafted into the head-to-head equation, a regulation which put Niger top of the standings. It goes to show that at international football, every detail and permutation needs to be considered, especially if it is written down as a rule by the organisers…
To make matters worse, South Africa then celebrated what they believed to be qualification on the pitch in Nelspruit with a lap of honour, presumably before the comedy moment of an official coming up and whispering a spot of bad news into Mr Mosimane’s ear…
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