Nelspruit - South Africa equalised deep in injury time for a 1-1 draw with Nigeria in their international friendly on Sunday.
Bongani Zungu knocked in a loose ball to deny the Nigerians a much-needed victory at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
Ahmed Musa’s classy 85th-minute goal momentarily revived Nigerian spirits after their surprise 1-0 home loss to Uganda in the week. CSKA Moscow forward Musa cut in from the left wing and curled a right-footer into the top right corner of the goal.
South Africa had missed a penalty in the 63rd minute, when midfielder Andile Jali was too casual and had his soft spot-kick stopped by Nigeria’s debutant goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi.
Akpeyi pulled off another good block in the buildup to the equaliser, but Zungu pounced to score from the rebound.
“I think it’s a fair result but, when you’re 1-0 up and you concede in the last minute, it’s never good,” said Nigeria’s assistant coach Daniel Amokachi, who took charge of the team for the last two games while head coach Stephen Keshi and the federation remain in dispute over a new contract.
Also among Sunday’s friendlies, Zambia beat Rwanda 2-0 to give Rwanda’s new 29-year-old Northern Irish coach Johnny McKinstry a losing start. Tanzania and Malawi drew 1-1.
Ghana’s rebuilding - following its loss last month to Ivory Coast in the final of the African Cup of Nations - began on Saturday with another defeat, 2-1 to Senegal in a friendly in Le Havre, France.
Switzerland-based forward Moussa Konate scored twice for Senegal, with his opener coming five minutes after arriving as a substitute for recalled striker Demba Ba.
Richmond Boakye-Yiadom pulled one goal back for Ghana in the 84th, but coach Avram Grant saw his team lose for the second time in two months to Senegal after going down by the same score in the group stages of the Cup of Nations. Ghana have a second friendly during Fifa’s international window against Mali on Tuesday.
For new Senegal coach Aliou Cisse, it was a promising first match in charge.
Also on Saturday, Uruguay beat Morocco 1-0 with Edinson Cavani’s 51st-minute penalty and Togo - under interim coach Tom Saintfiet - struggled in a lacklustre 1-1 draw away to minnows Mauritius.
ANA