A brace by Garry Rodrigues condemned Bafana Bafana to a 2-1 defeat against Cape Verde in their Fifa World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night.
The Islanders all but ended South Africa’s hopes of securing a spot at the 2018 World Cup.
Stuart Baxter rang in the changes from the side that lost 2-1 to the same opposition four days ago, with Wayne Sandilands, Morgan Gould, Sifiso Hlanti, Hlompho Kekana and Bradley Grobler replacing Ronwen Williams, Erick Mathoho (suspended) Tebogo Langerman, Bongani Zungu and Lebogang Manyama respectively.
South Africa occupy third spot in the Group D standings and needed a victory to keep their chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup alive.
The home side signalled their attacking intent from the offset, but were met with a well-organised Cape Verde side, who were content on getting behind the ball.
A blinding run from Garry Rodrigues saw the visitors claim the first shot on target in the 3rd minute, which proved comfortable for Sandilands.
Ryan Mendes proved troublesome for the Bafana defence with his pace and trickery in the opening exchanges, while the home side continued with their patient build-up.
South Africa gradually found their rhythm and looked impressive with their short interchanges of passes, however they struggled to pierce the resilient Cape Verde defence.
Rantie missed a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock when he profited from a deflected touch to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the forward fluffed his resultant shot with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Gould produced a sublime piece of defending in the 16th minute to deny the visitors the opener as Rodrigues appeared to break through on goal, but Gould’s expertly-timed tackle ensured that the scoreline remained level.
Grobler, with his first sniff at goal, got on to the end of Hlanti’s cross in the 30th minute, but his goal-bound header proved tame.
Moments before the end of the first half, Grobler did well to hold off his opponent and get on to the end of Keagan Dolly’s cross, but his shot was comfortably saved by goalkeeper Dias.
Cape Verde almost took the lead seconds into the second half after some poor defending by the home side, but Nuno Rocha overhit the final pass in the area.
Garry Rodrigues gave the visitors the lead in the 52nd minute via a stunning free kick, which gave Sandilands no chance. That goal shifted the momentum totally in favour of the Islanders’ outfit.
Baxter made his first substitution in the 57th minute, when Themba Zwane made way for Manyama as the home side went further into attacking mode.
Ryan Mendes could have all but sealed the game for Cape Verde in the 63rd minute when he got on to the end of a cross into the area, but after initially showing great composure, he ballooned his effort over the bar.
Andile Jali replaced Grobler, but it proved too little too late, as Rodrigues netted his brace in fine fashion in the 67th minute when he evaded a challenge from Jali to unleash a missile of a strike, which once again gave Sandilands no chance.
Baxter opted for his final roll of the dice when Percy Tau was introduced as a late substitute for Kekana, but the move didn’t yield any success as Cape Verde ran out 2-0 victors.
