Nick Said
ALL of South Africa's previous three meetings with Morocco have come in Africa Cup of Nations finals tournaments and Bafana Bafana have yet to taste defeat.
And if they can avoid a loss against the Atlas Lions in their final Group A clash on Sunday, they will advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. It was in the quarterfinals of the 1998 edition in Burkina Faso that the two countries first met, with Bafana securing a 2-1 win in Ouagadougou.
Benni McCarthy opened the scoring midway through the first half, before Saïd Chiba equalised for the north Africans. David Nyathi then netted his only international goal with 12 minutes remaining and Bafana were able to hold on despite losing Andrew Rabutla to a red card.
Bafana finished runners-up at that tournament, losing to Egypt in the final.
Four years later the teams met again, in the group stages of the 2002 finals in Mali.
It was roles reversed from Sunday's clash, with Morocco needing just a draw and Bafana the victory, which was easily achieved as Sibusiso Zuma, Thabo Mngomeni and Siyabonga Nomvethe all scored in a nine-minute spell.
Rachid Benmahmoud netted a penalty for the Moroccans with 15 minutes remaining, but Bafana comfortably played out the remainder of the game for a 3-1 win. They were, however, beaten 2-0 by hosts Mali in the quarterfinals. Their last meeting came in the final pool match of the 2004 Nations Cup finals in Tunisia. Bafana went into the game knowing they would probably need a win, but could only manage a 1-1 draw. Patrick Mayo put them ahead, but Youssef Safri equalised, meaning Bafana finished third in the pool and were out in the first round.
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