Bafana 3 - 0 Deportivo (386837466)

Clouds darkened the skies at Soccer City as 20000 spectators turned up for the match. Régis Veillet was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Abdel Hassan Adami and Svend Dalum. Bafana had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. Starters: Sosa - Torres, Mukaj, Bothereau, Rojas, Renner - Correa, Ruíz Díaz, Barrios - Montanaro, Aguilera.

Deportivo decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Lineup: Acuña - Arancibia, Marty, Quintupran, Battilana - Solalinde, Martínez, Blanco, Melipil - Samaniego, Cabriza.

Bafana fans held their breath as G. Ruíz Díaz scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, H. Correa got himself booked. The manager of Bafana was not happy. J. Aguilera was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Bafana's H. Correa managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 2 - 0 H. Correa could have increased the lead after 27 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. The home side failed to add to their score as G. Ruíz Díaz shot a penalty wide after 42 minutes. Bafana's P. Rojas left the field after 43 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was R. Peralta. The Bafana free kick 44 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of J. Aguilera, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 3 - 0! Confident in their lead, Bafana's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. 44 minutes in, Deportivo's E. Arancibia received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Bafana, as R. Peralta left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. S. Cramer took his place on the field. It was 3 - 0 at the break. Bafana enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 67 percent of possession.

Some things can only be learned through experience, and J. Mukaj should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Deportivo a goal with 55 minutes of the match played. Bafana's G. Ruíz Díaz saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 58 minutes. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Bafana, with 66 percent of the ball.

Bafana's top performer was clearly B. Sosa. S. Cramer on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Deportivo player was A. Blanco. On the other hand, D. Acuña's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 0.