DURBAN, South Africa, Jan 27, (AFP): South Africa came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Morocco Sunday and top Group A in the Africa Cup of Nations. Bafana Bafana (The Boys) finished on five points with Cape Verde, but a superior goal difference enabled the hosts to stay above the debutants, whose fairy-tale continued with a 2-1 win over Angola in Port Elizabeth. Issam El Adoua and Abdelilah Hafidi put the Atlas Lions ahead in this Indian Ocean city only for May Mahlangu and Siyabonga Sangweni to equalise and condemn Morocco to a fourth consecutive first round exit. Morocco made making five changes from the team that came alive only in the closing stages of a midweek 1-1 draw with Cape Verde.

In came Ahmed Kantari, Kamel Chafni, Chahir Belghazouani, Youssef Kaddioui and Youssef El Arabi as coach Rachid Taoussi opted for a five-man midfield and among those axed were wide men Nordin Amrabat and Oussama Assaidi.
South Africa, who made a similar number of alterations after being held by Cape Verde in the tournament opener, gave a vote of confidence to the starting line-up in a 2-0 victory over Angola.
Bafana Bafana were stricken by nerves in the early stages as the Atlas Lions attacked from the kick-off to quieten a sell-out 60,000 crowd at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Suspended playmaker Younes Belhanda was not being missed as young Spain-based midfielder Abdelaziz Barrada took control and the home team had several scares before falling behind.

El Adoua rose highest in the heart of the six-yard box to nod in a corner with Khune reacting too slowly as the South African defence was once more exposed at a set piece.
El Arabi, a highly-effective substitute against Cape Verde, found himself alone with just Khune to beat, but the goalkeeper once again came to the rescue with a one-hand parry that was cleared.
It proved a costly miss as South Africa levelled on 71 minutes with Sangweni bursting into opposition territory and passing to Tokelo Rantie, and his pass was superbly curled into the net by Mahlangu.
In a dramatic finish, South Africa fell behind again when substitue Abdelilah Hafidi fired home on 82 minutes only for defender Sangweni to level four minutes later with a curling shot any striker would have been proud of.

Cape Verde’s fairy-tale run in the Africa Cup of Nations continued Sunday when they qualified for the quarter-finals thanks to a 2-1 win over Angola in a final-round Group A match.
Cape Verde finished on five points to advance along with hosts South Africa, who drew 2-2 with Morocco in Durban, and topped the table thanks to a better goal difference.
Morocco and Angola were eliminated.
The west African islanders overcame mighty Cameroon to debut at the finals of Africa’s showpiece football event, where they again impressed with draws against hosts South Africa and Morocco before coming from behind to beat the Angolans.
Angola were rewarded for their offensive play after 33 minutes when Amaro delivered a cross and Mateus put Neves under pressure with the ball coming off the Cape Verde skipper and into his own net.
Cape Verde restored parity in the 81st minute when Gege headed home after sustained pressure on Angola and Heldon won the game in the 90th minute as he fired home a rebound after Lama could not hold a fierce shot.

The Black Antelopes of Angola took the game to Cape Verde from the first blast of the whistle, using the wings and long balls.
It was scrappy opening, but Angola were first to settle and continued to attack.
But after eight minutes the outstanding Ryan Mendes’ chipped shot from outside the box came close to giving Cape Verde the lead against the run of play.
Minutes later, Angola skipper Manucho almost profited from a mix-up between goalkeeper Vozinha and skipper Neves, but the Tunisian referee signalled a foul against the big Real Valladolid striker.
In the 12th minute, Manucho again threatened with a header off a free kick as Mateus on the right flank and Djalma on the left became a constant danger to their opponents.
Angola’s lead on 33 minutes seemed to spark the Blue Sharks to life on a cold, windy night in this Indian Ocean city.

Big striker Julio Tavares came close with a header in the 36th minute.
A minute after the resumption, another Tavares’ header was kept out on the goal-line by an Angolan defender as Cape Verde continued to mount pressure.
Manucho was unlucky to see his low drive from inside the Cape Verde goal area beat the goalkeeper but come off the foot of the post after 52 minutes.
Cape Verde continued to press forward and Heldon’s free kick was not held by the diving Lama in the 65th minute.
Angola substitute Yano fired from an angle at goal in the 86th minute, but it screamed wide of the target before Cape Verde delivered the killer blow.