South Africa 0-0 Japan: No Cutting Edge From Blue Samurai In Goalless Draw

South Africa played out a goalless draw with Japan at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. Neither side could find the breakthrough, although the Japanese had the better of the chances.

Benni McCarthy made his comeback for Bafana Bafana, while Anele Ngcongca made his debut in place of the injured Siboniso Gaxa.

The pressure was on the hosts from the first minute as they conceded an early corner, but began to compose themselves as they then enjoyed a spell of possession.

The crowd were buoyant with the return of McCarthy, who had been sidelined by previous coach Joel Santana, and there was a huge cheer each time the Blackburn Rovers striker was on the ball.

Moeneeb Josephs acrobatically tipped over Makoto Hasebe's long-range shot after 12 minutes before watching nervously as Shinji Okazaki's shot flashed wide of the post.

Japan were having the lion's share of possession and pressed forward looking for the opening goal, but were being denied by some resolute defending by the home side. Carlos Alberto Parreira, recently re-appointed as South Africa coach, was growing restless as he feared his side conceding.

Siphiwe Tshabalala tested the visitors' keeper after half an hour as Bafana Bafana began to exert some pressure of their own, but too many of their efforts were off target as the half ended goalless.

Neither side really created many openings in the early stages of the second half, and Espanyol's Shunsuke Nakamura was brought on after an hour in order to provide some creativity.

However, inspiration was lacking and the game began to break up as further substitutions were made on both sides.

With 11 minutes to go, Okazaki forced Josephs into an excellent save after turning well inside the hosts' penalty area as Japan continued threaten to find the opening goal.

Despite the lack of action on the pitch, the crowd were in high spirits with the return of McCarthy and Parreira and continued to support the team until the final whistle.

South Africa won a couple of corners in second half stoppage time, but the deliveries were poor and the referee called time on the game with the score at 0-0.

Goal.com