Pressure on Mashaba ahead of Lions game

South Africa take on Cameroon in a must-win African Nations Cup qualifier in Limbe on Saturday having only tasted defeat on the road five times in the 24 years in the preliminaries for the continental championship.

But they would rarely have faced such a daunting prospect with the Indomitable Lions having only lost once at home in qualifiers since 1975. Even with a new coach and without some of their star names‚ Cameroon present a mighty challenge.

The most common result for Bafana Bafana in away Nations Cup qualifiers is a draw‚ with 10 in the 23 games played so far.

They have managed to win eight of those matches‚ around a third‚ to go with five defeats. They have out-scored their opponents 29-24 in that time.

Coach Shakes Mashaba knows his side must avoid back-to-back away defeats in Nations Cup qualifiers if they are to stand any chance of reaching the finals Gabon next year.

Having lost 3-1 at minnows Mauritania in September‚ comfortably Bafana’s most disappointing away result in qualifiers‚ that possibility looms.

It would be the first time they have done so since their very first qualification campaign‚ for the 1994 Nations Cup‚ when they were beaten in Zimbabwe (1-4) and Zambia (0-3) as the side fumbled their way back into international football.

Their other defeats came in Gabon (0-1) in 1999 and Niger (1- 2) in 2011.

But along the way the side has also collected some excellent victories.

A 2-1 victory in Congo in 2000‚ when Thabo Mngomeni scored a wonder-goal and Bradley August added a second‚ was a real highlight.

They also claimed a fine 1-0 victory in Zambia in 2006‚ when Pitso Mosimane was the caretaker in charge of the side while the country waited for Carlos Alberto Parreira.

Aaron Mokoena scored his only international goal in 107 caps in that game.

And the victories in Sudan (3-0) and Congo (2-0) in the 2015 qualification campaign‚ as Mashaba made a fine start to his tenure‚ also deserve to be applauded.

That remains the only time that Bafana have managed two away wins in a qualification campaign. They almost made it a hat-trick of victories‚ too‚ but Nigeria scored a couple of late goals to snatch a 2-2 draw.

Bafana’s overall record in Nations Cup qualifiers has seen them win 20 of their 45 matches home and away‚ drawing 18 and losing seven.

Unusually‚ they have managed more goals on the road than they have at home‚ though they have played a game more.