Bafana need a miracle

Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana need a miracle to reach the World Cup finals in Germany, and their hopes now lie in the hands of Uganda and Cape Verde.

National coach Stuart Baxter admitted that Bafana had stumbled in the race for Germany after a crushing 2-0 defeat at the hands of Ghana at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.


It was Bafana's first ever home defeat in a World Cup qualifier.


Baxter said: "Our fate is not in our hands anymore. We have to rely on others for favours."


That means to qualify for the World Cup Bafana need to win both their remaining qualifiers and hope Ghana drop a point in their last two games.


Both Bafana and Ghana have 15 points with two matches to play. But if the teams are level on points at the end of the qualifying programme then Ghana will go to Germany ahead of Bafana.

The group winner will be decided on a head to head basis. Ghana have beaten Bafana home and away with a 5-0 aggregate.


Bafana cannot give up. They still have a chance to play in their third successive World Cup. But they have to beat Burkina Faso away on September 3 and beat DR Congo at home on October 8 to stand any chance of pipping Ghana.


Bafana must also pray Cape Verde and Uganda produce a miracle when they meet Ghana and take points off the Black Stars


Stuart Baxter, Bafana Bafana's coach, said: "Its not a perfect situation, we had it in our own hands and now we don't have it in our hands - now we have a job to do at the same time hope they slip up or we have to score a lot of goals."