Bafana Bafana held Algeria in a six-goal thriller, with Themba Zwane scoring a brace in the exciting 3-3 draw.
Bafana started very bright and had an early chance to take the lead at a packed Nelson Mandela Stadium when Oswin Appollis shot from inside the box hit the crossbar inside 10 minutes.
However, Hugo Broos’ men ran into a counter in the 19th minute when Nyiko Mobbie misjudged the bounce of the ball and Algeria made no mistake from the following four vs two situation, with Yassine Benzia putting the ball past Ronwen Williams.
Bafana, though, came back in style and equalised through Themba Zwane after 34 minutes after an assist by Mihlali Mayambela.
Zwane even went one better in injury-time of the first half, putting Bafana in the lead with a superb finish from a tigh angle with his left foot.
But Algeria equalised just eight minutes into the second half after a mistake by Williams gifted the hosts the ball in the opposition third and they gracefully accepted the gift via Yacine Brahimi.
The hosts were pilling on the pressure in the following 10 minutes but Bafana survived and Broos introduced Grant Margeman and Elias Mokwana for Thabang Monare and the lively Appollis – with the substitution almost reaping immediate rewards when Mokwana made it two goals in two Bafana appearances after taking the Algeria defence for a dance before his shot got deflected by Iqraam Rayners into the goal in the 65th minute.
Bafana’s celebrations, though, were shortlived as Benzia pulled out a bit of magic and scored via a brilliant bicycle kick to make it 3-3 after 70 minutes.
Substitute Monsef Bakrar had a chance to win it for Algeria, running one-on-one with Williams in the 81st minute but the Bafana goalkeeper made up for his earlier mistake.
Teboho Mokoena had a late chance for Bafana with a well-placed long-range shot, but Moustapha Zeghba came up with a good save.
