Mokoena Revives S’Africa’s Hope as Bafana Secure Draw with Czech Rep

Teboho Mokoena scored an 83rd-minute penalty to earn South Africa a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic at the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

South Africa trailed after five minutes and seven seconds when Michal Sadilek latched on to a clever lay-off and rifled home the earliest goal of the tournament so far.

The Bafana Bafana, who also conceded early against Mexico in their tournament opener, eventually settled into the game and slowed down play, but they struggled to create chances and only managed their first shot on target in the 74th minute.

But their fortunes finally changed as Thapelo Maseko’s shot thundered into Pavel Sulc’s arm in the Czech box with less than 10 minutes of regulation time remaining.

Mokoena made no mistake with the finish, slotting into the left corner.

A point does little to help either side and their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages remain in the balance, with Mexico and South Korea on three points from their first games above them in the Group A table.

However, with the eight best third-placed teams progressing to the last 32 and three points likely to be enough to secure a place in the knockout stages, South Africa and the Czech Republic still have it all to play for in their final group games.

South Africa face South Korea on Thursday, 25 June at 02:00 BST, while the Czechs will take on co-hosts Mexico in the Azteca Stadium at the same time.

RESULTS

Ghana 1-0 Panama

Uzbekistan 1-3 Colombia 

Czech Rep 1-1 S’Africa

Switzerland 4-1 Bosnia & H

Canada – Qatar

TODAY 

Mexico v S’Korea

USA v Australia 

Scotland v Morocco