South Africa End Cup of Nations Warm Up With Algeria Draw

Hosts South Africa complete their warm-up matches for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations with another disappointing result after being held 0-0 by fellow qualifiers Algeria.

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4 months ago

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SHOTLIST: SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA, JANUARY 12, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR South Africa football fans arriving at Orlando Stadium - Wide pitch - VAR fans in stadium SOUNDBITE 1 Gordon Igesund (man), South African coach (English, 16 sec): "We played a very good game out there today, we played against a very very good team, number two in Africa, second best in Africa, ranked 19th in the world I think. So I was very happy with the performance. I thought we were the better team out there and we're only moving forward. Each day we're getting better and I'm not worried about anything at this stage." SOUNDBITE 2 Vahid Halilhodzic (man), Algerian coach (French, 33 sec): "We have fallen into a very difficult group but we didn't come here to play friendly matches or to go walking or to visit the country. Our aim is to qualify for the second round. I know that it's not an easy task but we believe that it's possible, we came here for that." [French: "On a tombé dans un groupe très difficile, plus difficile largement mais on n'a venir là pas pour jouer matches amicales ni se promener, ni se visiter le pays. Notre objectif c'est qualification pour deuxième tour. Je sais ça c'est une tache pas facile mais on croit notre possibilité, on a venu pour ça."] ------------------ AFP TEXT: Fbl-Afr2013-friendlies,lead Football: South Africa fire another blank in last warm-up by David Legge SOWETO, South Africa, Jan 12, 2013 (AFP) - Hosts South Africa completed their warm-up matches for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations with another disappointing result after being held 0-0 by fellow qualifiers Algeria Saturday. It was the fifth time in eight matches since Gordon Igesund replaced Pitso Mosimane as coach last year that Bafana Bafana (The Boys) have failed to find the net. They also drew blanks away to Brazil and Poland and at home to Zambia and Norway -- a worrying trend just seven days before facing debutants Cape Verde Islands in the opening match of the 22-day tournament. Scoring chances were scarce and the disillusionment of the crowd that half filled the Orlando Stadium showed with many supporters heading home before the final whistle. Angola and Morocco are the other Group A opponents of South Africa, who won the Cup of Nations when they last played hosts 17 years ago, while Algeria are pooled with title favourites Ivory Coast, Tunisia and Togo. The poor run-up to the 16-team tournament by defending champions Zambia continued when they were held 0-0 in central mining town Ndola by Norway, who defeated South Africa four days ago. Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) dominated the match at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium only to squander numerous chances in their final warm-up, having cancelled a January 15 fixture against Namibia. Since defeating South Africa in Soweto last November, Zambia have lost to Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and Angola and drawn against Morocco and Norway, prompting criticism of Cup of Nations-winning coach Herve Renard from France. Zambia are in Group C of the Africa Cup with two-time champions Nigeria and outsiders Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, and are widely expected to make the quarter-finals despite below-par form lately. Youssef Kaddioui scored nine minutes from time to earn former champions Morocco a 2-1 victory over non-qualifiers Namibia in another warm-up for the championship. Mounir El Hamdaoui got the Atlas Lions off to a great start by netting within 120 seconds of the kick-off at Rand Stadium in Johannesburg, but Lazarus Kaimbi levelled close to half-time. Windy, cool conditions brought welcome relief to the teams after a heat wave in the South African financial capital this week with temperatures soaring to 35 degrees celsius (95 degrees fahrenheit).