He was caught off his line for the first goal, but made a great save to deny Benkhemassa in the 16th minute. He was beaten again in the second half and this time, Benkhemassa’s attempt was powerful and swerving.
The Maritzburg United man has been poor in the tournament and the match against Algeria was no exception. He was caught flat-footed for Algeria’s opener although he made a good tackle later on with Algeria on the break, but he was poor overall.
A lot was expected from someone who is already a senior international, but his partnership with Mngonyama leaves a lot to be desired. On the other end of the field, Coetzee even had a free header in the closing stages but failed to hit the target.
He looked good going forward, but the same can’t be said about him defensively. He did make one very good tackle in the second half when an Algeria player surged into the box, and needed to time it perfectly or it would have been a penalty conceded.
Great run down the right in the 18th minute to cross for Motupa, who fluffed the opportunity as he couldn’t fully connect with the bobbling ball for a finish. Mobara tried harder than most of the players, but was also arguably at fault for playing Algeria onside for the first goal. He also made the Algeria keeper work with a headed effort at goal that was saved. All in all he had a good game going forward, but primarily he should be defending better.
Saw a lot of the ball but was simply not effective, especially with his passing, although he did his defensive duties well.
For an attacking player, he didn’t create many chances and in fact, the one that comes to mind was when he crossed for Mekoa in the 63rd minute that the latter didn’t take.
Like Masuku, he had a quiet game. Mekoa even had a chance to score in the 63rd minute from a Masuku cross and missed. But then again, it could be argued that he was unsighted as there was a defender in front of the ball. Scored a headed goal but was way offside.
Always looked to make things happen for the team, but didn’t have much support around him. He tried some runs including the one in the 29th minute when saw off some defenders, but his attempt was blocked. Never stopped trying, but overall more quality was expected from him.
The Ajax man worked hard and showed a lot of energy, taking on the Algerians at times and trying to make things happen, but failed to create any real opportunities. He did force a rare save out of the Algerian goalkeeper when he beat a few players and then shot from outside the box. He was taken off early in the second half.
Hardly given any breathing space by the Algerian defence and when he did have a scoring opportunity in the 18th minute, he failed to capitalise.
SUBS
He came on for Norodien in the 53rd minute and was South Africa's brightest player after entering the fray, winning a few free-kicks and stretching the Algeria defenders, although he was well man-marked. One wonders what could have happened had he started the match.
Saw very little of the ball after replacing Masuku in the 64th minute and therefore, had little to do.