Taofeek Babalola , Uyo
South Africa were denied a first competitive win against African Champions Nigeria as a brace from Hull City forward, Sone Aluko rescued the Super Eagles from the jaws of defeat when they played a 2-2 draw at the Akwa Ibom International stadium in Uyo.
South Africa nearly took the lead in the third minute as a back pass from Oshaniwa was missed controlled by Middleborough defender, Kenneth Omeruo which allowed the charging Tokelo Rantie to outmuscle him inside the box but the strikers left shot went wayward.
That spurred the Eagles into action as Ahmed Musa wriggled his way past the South African defence but his shot came off the right-hand post in the 9th minute, the CSKA Moscow forward again had two opportunities within a minute to give Nigeria the lead but his effort was saved by Dean Furman in goal for Bafana Bafana.
The Eagles found little space in midfield as the South Africans closed down play and forced the African Champions into faulty passes. Reneilwe Letsholonyane picked up a yellow card on 23 minutes for a nasty kick on Raheem Lawal. Nigeria played a quick pass into the path of IK Uche from the resultant freekick but his 25 yards shot went straight into the hands of the South African goalkeeper.
The South Africans were forced into an early change when Kermit Erasmus came on for injured Bongani Ndulula. With five minutes to the end of the first half, fans inside the Akwa Ibom International stadium, Uyo, began to sang “all we are saying give us one goal” and the goal eventually came on 41 minutes but it was one that silenced the 30,000 fans, as Bafana Bafana striker, Tokelo Rantie, sprinted away from Eagles defenders before curling the ball past Vincent Enyeama to give the Group A winners a first half lead.
The South Africans came into the second half with super believe and again the tormentor-in-chief, Tokelo Rantie, beat Omeruo before rounding off Enyeama to score a beautiful second goal on the 48th minute.
Keshi immediately responded by throwing in Sone Aluko for the ineffective Raheem Lawal as the Eagles switched to a 4-4-2 formation and it paid off as the Eagles reduced the deficit when Ik Uche’s shot came off the bar and Sone Aluko was on hand to finish off the rebound in the 67th minute.
Nigeria got a major boost as South African midfielder, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, was sent off after he received a second yellow card for a clumsy tackle on Juwon Oshaniwa. That encouraged the Eagles manager to throw-in hero against Congo Brazzaville, Aaron Samuel, who replaced out of form Kenneth Omeruo.
With ten men, the South Africans withdrew and defended in front of their 18-yard area, this invited pressure from the Eagles and Mikel Obi drilled in a powerful left foot shot from the edge of the box but the South African keeper gathered on second attempt.
IK Uche created an opening for himself but his shot was met by a confident save from Darren Keet. Onazi also tried from the edge of the box with a left foot shot but his shot was also saved however, Sone Aluko rifled in a right foot shot from 25 yards to make it 2-2.
The heads of Super Eagles players bowed in anguish as results filtered in that Congo Brazzaville had defeated Sudan 1-0 which took them to 10 points, two more than Nigeria and two below Group A winners, South Africa, while Sudan finished bottom with just 3 points.
