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Excitement gone for South Africa
Newcomers sent home after 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia
Posted: Thursday September 24, 1998 03:35 PM
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Ibrahim Al Harbi (top) of Saudi Arabia is challenged by Mark Fish of South Africa Allsport |
BORDEAUX, France (CNN/SI)
-- Shaun Bartlett lived out one World Cup dream, but he saw another
shattered. With his two goals against Saudi
Arabia, Bartlett fulfilled a childhood fantasy, but he watched in
horror as the Saudis scored on two penalty kicks to gain a 2-2 draw that
ended the Bafana Bafana's hopes of reaching the second round. South
Africa thus goes home after the first round in this its first World Cup
finals. Like all the South
African players, Bartlett grew up during the 28 years his country was
banned from international soccer because of apartheid. Before the
tournament, Bartlett said he used to imagine himself scoring a World Cup
goal. "When I scored the first goal, I just saw myself playing the
second round," Bartlett said of his 18th-minute left-footed shot that
caught Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed al-Deayea anticipating a cross. "I was
really excited. "But in the end, the excitement is all gone." The
excitement is gone for both teams, neither of which advanced to the second
round. South Africa needed to win and make up a four-goal deficit to Denmark in goal
differential in order to stay in the tournament. France defeated the Danes
2-1 in the other Group C finale, and both those teams advanced. "It
was a nice show by our players, but we have to continue to work harder to
improve our play. I was expecting a better result," South Africa coach
Philippe Troussier said. Troussier said South Africa's inexperience
showed during the tournament, and that his players lacked the will to win.
"I really never felt that there was that collective commitment on the
part of everyone," said Troussier, who sent home two players last week for
staying out all night and openly clashed with others. The Saudis
already were eliminated from contention entering the match and played under
new coach Mohammed al-Kharashi, a longtime assistant, after Brazilian Carlos
Albert Parreira was fired following the 4-0 loss to France. "I'm very
happy. Even though we're out of the tournament, we proved we could do
something at the end," al-Kharashi said. "I wish we had played like this
before. We would have qualified [for the second round]." Sami
al-Jaber netted Saudi Arabia's first penalty in first-half injury time and
captain Youssef al-Thyniyan scored the second in the 74th minute.
Bartlett's second goal, also a penalty, came in second-half injury time.
Both penalties against South Africa involved defender Pierre Issa
and were questionable. On the first, near the end of the first half,
al-Thyniyan fell in the penalty area after Issa brushed him with an
outstretched arm. Al-Jaber took the penalty, beating South African
goalkeeper Hans Vonk high to the left side. The second call came in
the 73rd minute after Issa wrestled with substitute Ibrahim al-Shahrani for
the ball, eventually pulling him down. Sanchez immediately pointed to the
spot, and al-Thyniyan beat Vonk low, again to the left. Bartlett
called the two penalties against Issa disappointing, but he refused to
criticize the calls. "The performance of the Saudis was surprising for
us," he said. "They had the best counterattack of any team I've seen so
far." South Africa dominated the match it had to win, putting
consistent pressure on the Saudi defense. Bartlett scored the second World
Cup goal in South African history in the 18th minute, taking a long
clearing pass from Issa while shielding off defender Fuad Amin and fooling
al-Deayea by shooting for the near corner. South Africa pushed for
an equalizer near the end, with captain Lucas Radebe testing al-Deayea on a
free kick. Then substitute Jerry Sikhosana was pulled down in the penalty
area in injury time, and Bartlett blasted a high kick past al-Deayea to tie
the game. The match ended a tough World Cup for Olympique Marseilles
defender Issa. He scored an own goal in the opening loss to France and also
had another Frech goal deflect off him, then was called for both penalties
against Saudi Arabia. Lineups South Africa: Hans
Vonk; Mark Fish, Pierre Issa, Willem Jackson (Delron Buckley, 46th); David
Nyathi, Lucas Radebe, Quinton Fortune (Doctor Khumalo, 67th), Helman
Mkhalele, John Moshoeu; Shaun Bartlett, Benni McCarthy (Jerry Sikhosana,
46th). Saudi Arabia: Mohammed al-Deayea; Mohammed al-Jahani,
Hussein Sulimani, Abdullah Zubromawi; Nawaf al-Temyat, Fuad Amin, Khamis
Dossari, Hamzah Saleh; Sami al-Jaber, Fahad al-ehalel (Ibrahim al-Shahrani,
65th), Youssef al-Thyniyan (Ibrahim al-Harbi, 82nd). Referee:
Mario Sanchez, Chile.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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