Seychelles shocked South Africa holding them to a goalless draw in a Group E Day Four clash on Tuesday at Stade Linite.
Visiting Bafana Bafana tried to pick up from where they had left off against the Islanders, after beating the latter 6-0 four days earlier.
However, Seychelles did their homework and kept a tight line at the back and did not allow their opponent space to manoeuvre.
The South Africans threatened in the ninth minute when a stray pass found Dino Ndlovu who headed to Lehohang Maboe but Benoit Marie’s last ditch tackle save the day.
In the 23
The South Africans huffed and puffed but Seychelles’ well marshaled defence kept them at bay for the first half.
Lebo Mothiba was guilty of a bad miss for the South Africans in the 47
Seychelles though came out of their shell in the second period and Perry Monnaie almost put the ‘cats amongst the pigeons’ in the 71
The visitors kept pushing forward but Seychelles held on to register an admirable draw to frustrate the South Africans to drop two vital points in their bid to qualify for next year’s final tournament.
Seychelles head coach Gavin Jeanne was very pleased with the result after their drubbing in South Africa.
“We knew we could perform better and the players rose to the challenge so I am proud of this performance as they played with a lot of conviction and I must congratulate them,” coach Gavin told CAFOnline.com.
In the other Group E match, Nigeria edged Libya 3-2 away in Sfax to move to top of the group with nine points. South Africa trail on eight points, Libya on four points with Seychelles at the bottom with a point.
