Time to settle the score: Bafana Bafana's long AFCON rivalry with Egypt reignited

It's time to get even, Bafana Bafana. It is time to settle the score with the Pharaohs.

Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash between South Africa’s senior national team and their Egyptian counterparts will mark the fourth meeting between the two countries situated on opposite tips of the motherland.

It is a crucial clash for both sides, with the winner set to book their place in the knockout stages with a match to spare. Both countries were 2–1 winners in their opening matches — Bafana having beaten Angola, while Egypt got the better of Zimbabwe. A recipe for a humdinger, alright!

Not that clashes between the two are ever anything but.

These, after all, are countries who have built something of an AFCON rivalry since South Africa’s return to the international game. Three times they have met at the biennial continental showpiece, and there was no love lost on any of those occasions.

It all started in Johannesburg 30 years ago. That encounter stands out like the proverbial fly in the milk of that glorious Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 — the only blemish on Bafana’s excellent tournament.

I have a vivid memory of that match because it took place on my birthday, January 24. I had attended both the opening matches against Cameroon and Angola, which Bafana won to book their place in the knockout stages with a match to spare. Being my special day, I decided not to go to the old FNB Stadium but watched the match on television instead — expecting a birthday gift from the boys.

It was not to be. The Egyptians scored very early — in the seventh minute — through Ahmed El Kaas and then did what they are renowned for, defending their lead like a mother hen does her chicks. It was a disappointing loss, the fact that it did not have any effect on Bafana’s progress notwithstanding. And with South Africa going on to win the title, that defeat was quickly forgotten. I, on the other hand, never forgot. How could I, when that loss spoiled my birthday?

If revenge is a dish best served cold, someone forgot to make Bafana aware of this. Two years later, our national team had the perfect chance to get even — in the final of the AFCON. Bafana had the opportunity to win back-to-back titles by reaching the final at Burkina Faso 1998, and many of us watching from home believed Jomo Sono and his boys would do just that.

But the Pharaohs proved those South Africans wrong who claimed the 1–0 defeat two years earlier had happened because the match was inconsequential for Bafana.

Again, the North Africans caught Bafana cold, with Ahmed Hassan scoring after five minutes and Tarek Mostafa making it 2–0 in the 13th minute before Lucas Radebe and company could figure out what was going on. The match ceased to be a contest before the hour mark, and it was painful watching Bafana try to find a way past the strong, pyramid-stone Egyptian defensive wall.

The wait for yet another AFCON finals meeting between the two countries was long — very long. But when it did come, boy was it sweet. Egypt had beaten us by the proverbial mile in the bid to host the tournament, receiving 16 votes while we managed just one of the 18.

We did not sulk, though, and rough as things had been for Bafana on the continent, our boys made it to the knockouts — thanks to the new rule which saw the four best third-placed teams progressing. It had not been pretty, as Bafana lost to both Ivory Coast and Morocco but beat Namibia to collect the three points that proved enough.

Egypt, on the other hand, topped their group with a perfect record of three victories and scored five goals without reply in the process. No points then for guessing who the outright favourites were when Bafana and the Pharaohs clashed at the Cairo International Stadium, reverberating to the chants and pounding feet of 75,000 fans — the majority of them passionate, patriotic Egyptians clad in red.

But football is fickle at the top, and despite their dominance, the Egyptians simply could not find a way to breach Stuart Baxter’s team. Whereas in the previous two clashes Egypt delivered a Mike Tyson-like knockout with an early goal, Bafana decked their foe late in the game. After absorbing all the pressure and landing some telling blows, Thembinkosi Lorch delivered the coup de grâce that sent Egypt into mourning.

They meet again in neutral Agadir on Friday, and Bafana will be keen to level the head-to-head record at two wins apiece. But it is going to be an intensely tight affair — one that is sure to become another unforgettable chapter in this north-versus-south AFCON rivalry.