Bafana Bafana were dumped out of the Cosafa Cup after losing on penalties to Mozambique in the quarterfinal match at King Zwelithini Stadium last night. The match had ended goalless after 90 minutes and headed straight to penalties, where SA lost 5-4.

The defeat meant Bafana failed to defend the title they won last year in Gqeberha. The match was Bafana’s first in the competition after they had received a bye in the earlier rounds.

Stand-in coach Helman Mkhalele chose a youthful line-up, with Keletso Sifama and Boitumelo Radiopane spearheading the attack while Lincoln Vyver was in goal and Athenkosi Mcaba and Kegan Johannes manned the defence.

Bafana made a bright start, playing enterprising football that got a decent crowd at the venue on their feet. But the Mambas were not fazed. They absorbed the pressure well and were slowly coming into the game.

After their promising start the youthful Bafana seemed to run out of steam, with Mozambique dictating terms and finishing the opening half the stronger of the two.

Yet chances were few and far in between.

The hosts regrouped and came back after the restart with more energy, but still could not penetrate the Mambas' defence, with supply to Radiopane too infrequent.

Bafana started to find gaps behind the Mambas defence and had a few chances to break the deadlock but could not convert them in the second half.

Mozambique opted to sit back and try to catch the hosts on the counterattack. Bafana again seemed to run out of steam towards the end of the second half as the Mambas took control of the match.

The  teams could not be separated at the end of regulation time and penalties were needed to decide the winner. After Vyver had done well to pull SA back into the contest after two earlier spot-kick misses, Siyanda Msani missed the decisive kick in sudden death, enabling Mozambique to book a semifinal fixture against Namibia tomorrow.