Bafana Bafana have booked their place into the COSAFA Cup semi-final following a goalless draw with Mauritius on Tuesday.
The home side came into the match looking for a second win to be sure of a place in the last four, having lost the opening match before beating Zimbabwe 2-0 in their next encounter, but Mauritius proved difficult to break down.
South Africa laboured to break down Mauritius in a game which both sides had opportunities to score but did not utilise them.
Missed opportunities from both teams
Vela Khumalo’s charges nearly went a goal down after 22 minutes when Mauritius captain Lindsay Rose won a free header from a corner but headed directly at Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Thakasani Mbanjwa.
A couple of minutes later, it was the turn of the hosts to miss from a similar situation when Kaizer Chiefs star Aden McCarthy won a header from a corner but could not get it on target with club-mate Mduduzi Shabalala winning the rebound but firing wide.
After a goalless first half, Mauritius came close to breaking the deadlock in the 59th minute when Adel Langue received a good pass in the box but could not score as the island nation made inroads into the South African backline.
How did Bafana seal the semis ticket?
One minute later, McCarthy was lucky to escape a red card after an elbow on Jason Ferre with the referee letting him off the hook as he had already been booked for an earlier challenge.
In the 70th minute, Gape Moralo had his well-taken freekick deflected off and from the resultant corner, McCarthy won an aerial ball but headed directly at the goalkeeper.
Substitute Cooper Legrand then had a glorious opportunity to score for Mauritius when he received the ball inside the box but somehow could not direct it in while McCarthy saw his effort go just inches wide in the final minutes of the game.
South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique finished Group A tied on four points but the first two went through thanks to a superior head-to-head record.
