The South Africans dominated possession and looked very strong in the first half, but faded a bit after the break as the substitutions disrupted their progress. The result did, however, see them extend their unbeaten run to nine matches.
Bafana certainly started the stronger side and looked really comfortable on the ball, passing it around smoothly.
The first real chance came in the 11th minute when Katlego Mphela fired in a powerful 25-yard free-kick. His shot made its way through the wall, but couldn’t beat Nikolay Mihaylov, who made a good save diving low to his right.
Only three minutes later and the Bulgarian goalie was called into action again. This time Siphiwe Tshabalala curled an inviting 35 yard free-kick into the box which just missed the head of Surprise Moriri. Luckily, Mihaylo was alert enough to make a reaction save.
It was all South Africa in the opening exchanges as again the visitor’s goalkeeper was called into action when Teko Modise tested him, this time from about 25 yards out. The Bafana captain, after some quick passing, found himself in some space and let rip, but Mihaylov was up for the challenge.
Eventually, in the 20th minute, Bafana were able to break the deadlock and there was nothing the Bulgarian keeper could do about it. Tshabalala whipped in corner-kick from the right and Siyabonga Sangweni climbed high to meet it with a powerful header at the back-post.
Bulgaria seemed to wake up a little after going a goal down and started finding more possession and applying some pressure. The Bafana defence, however, looked to be standing firm until the 31st minute when they fell asleep, allowing Valeri Bonjinov to sneak in and volley home.
Bafana almost went in front for the second time in the 39th minute when a corner-kick was cleared to Reneilwe Letsholonyane on the edge of the 18 yard area. The Chiefs midfielder fired the ball goal-wards with a ferocious shot, but was denied by another superb save from the Bulgarian goalie.
Thereafter Bafana continued to apply pressure until the closing minutes of the half but were unable to find a goal before the break.
The second half saw South Africa make three substitutions right away, with Tsepo Masilela, Aaron Mokoena and Kagisho Dikgacoi coming on. Masilela made an immediate impression as Bafana seemed to dictate terms in the second half, especially down the flanks.
Then, against the run of play, a quick counter-attack by Bulgaria resulted in Dimitar Rangelov getting into a one-on-one situation with Itumeleng Khune, but he was too good for the striker, making a fine stop from close range.
Thereafter Bafana controlled possession and managed to control the play, but struggled to create any decent goal-scoring chances.
South Africa: Khune - Gaxa, Sangweni (Mokoena 46’), Khumalo, Thwala (Masilela 46’) - Modise (Parker 69’), Letsholonyane (Dikgacoi 46’), Khuboni, Tshabalala (Cale 78’) - Moriri (Nomvete 63’) - Mphela
Bulgaria: Mihaylov, Minev, Angelov, Georgie (Nikolov 92’), Yankov (Dimitrov 60’), Bojinov (Rangelov 55’), Peev (Vidanov 89’), Manolev, Ivanov, Petrov, Popov (Kamburov 55’)
Your comments on this story...
Gaxa: Tested a couple of times in his defensive responsibilities,not successfull on probably 4 occasions & d worse 1 ofcourse by nt tracking the striker. Great improvement from his movement forward & supplied 2 wounderful crosses that d attack could nt capatalise on.
Thwala: Did well on his defense abilities & showed signs of improvement going forward. He would compete with Maselela tooth & nail if his attacks forces the opposition 2 pay attention to him.
Maselela: Not really tested & came off trumps when called to task. Offered an good option going forward but did not suuply those vicious crosses.
Sangweni: Had a good game & would improve drastically with further exposure to the elite of the game.
Mbazo: Relaxed the back line with the time spent.
Khumalo: this dude along with Sangweni & Morgan are going to greater hights with proper self management & player manager to assist in making good decision on & off the field. Khumalo is ruthless in defence & his leadership quality is an asset to BB.
Khuboni: Revelation that we will chat about for quite a while & am super proud of this dude. To reiterate, he will also mature fabulously with exposure to the elite.
Teko: The dude had a good game & am glad that he's regaining form as we draw closer to the opening game. He adds a buzz when working with Tshabalala.
Renilwe: Had a wounderful game & his confidence level was boosted immensely with his performance.
Kagiso: His long range passes are an asset though at times made incorrect decisions in wrong areas.
Mphela: Tightly marked & had a couple of not so good first touches though showed that he is a force to be reckoned. He's still going to win game for the Nation.
Moriri: Relatively quite though contributing positively to the simple things on the field & that's what always requied in a team(blend of everything)
Tshabalala: Wounderful setpieces, good work rate without the ball. OOzing with confidence.
Parker: Think he could have added value to his inclusions in the game & am certain he will review his performance & come back strong.
Nomvete: Had good touches & it's wounderful to note that we have a playr that is super confident in taking on the opposition.
Cale: Did not add value unfortunately, maybe the pressure took its toll.
Khune – he is our No1 - 6
Gaxa – one of his worse games, this Brazilian pattern expose him badly - 4
Thwala – to be honest, going forward is not his strong point - 4
Khumalo – better player on our defence - 5
Sangweni – yes he scored but he is not confincing at this level – 4
Koboni – SA current best player - 7
Letsholonyane – he will be lucky to make 23 - 4
Modise – liability, he will not make top 11 - 4
Tshabalala – had worse second half but he is still our best- 6
Moriri – he is the luckest player to make top 29 & lucky to make starting line-up, worse player - 3
Mphela – was he in the game? - 4
Mokoena – our leader - 5
Dikgacoi – he has improved a lot - 5
Nomvethe – runs like headless chicken - 4
Masilela – this one is class - 6
Parker – what happened to this boy? Complete deferent player…..4
Cale – since his Laduma interview where he claimed to be far better than Tshabalala, I have been concentrating on him & he is just ordinary. 4
WE'L ONLY GET TO QUATER FINAL THRU PRAYER NOTHING ELSE!
excellent rating my brother you indcate that you are a sepcilist in Performance mngt, I believe in this rating , we cannt give ppl 50% when the project is at +-35% we will see o the 5th game who gets 6s n 7s.
When I was listening to Gordon Igesund and Perreira they were clear and concise on Teko that we need penetration which is lacking a lot, the thing is whenever he gets the ball he starts dancing only to find that the space is close already, he must get the ball and make three runs towards opponents and then he can wait for support, but to delay the ball and let opponents to close the space and get organising doesnt help, his game is at stake for Pienaar, nt that he hate him , he must give what we want, this tournament is about goals goals goals all the way.
with khuboni wonderfull you got your space already nothing more to prove, you only need to go abroad to work on your physique
Mphela the ball doesnt stick on your feet, pls work on that know when to release and delay the ball for support, otherwise one thing Perreira to do is penetration of which Pienaar must provide
Just put your emotions aside and concetrate on mrabaraba......and stop wasting space on this forum.