Pretoria - Bafana Bafana's goalless draw in Cairo edged them closer to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) champions, while dampening any chance for Egypt to qualify.
Despite being under pressure from the attacking Egyptian players, Bafana should have walked out of the Cairo Military Stadium with a maximum of three points.
In the 35th minute, Katlego Mphela caught the sloppy Egyptian defence off guard and found himself one-on-one with the Pharaohs experienced stopper, Essam El Hadary, who saved Mphela's shot.
Another opportunity for Bafana Bafana came in the dying minute of the match when Tlou Segolela also found himself in a one-on-one situation with El Hadary who again denied Bafana a goal.
With Bafana skipper, Steven Pienaar on the bench as a result of his knee injury he sustained during the team's training, Siphiwe Tshabalala took over the armband.
Siyabonga Sangweni should have opened the score for Bafana with his brilliant header from a Simphiwe Tshabalala corner, but El Hadary palmed it out. In the 33rd minute, Tshabalala had El Hadary fully stretched to push away his volley he took 38 metres from the box.
Katlego Mphela and Tlou Segolela, in either half, found themselves one-on-one with Egypt keeper Essam El Hadary, and neither could finish.
The combination of Andile Jali and Reneilwe Letsholonyane in the midfield was superb, while Siyabonga Sangweni, Anele Ngcongca and Morgan Gould take no prisoners at the back.
Although Bafana were always under attack, the three defenders remained intact and when the Egyptian tried to get a goal, Bafana's brave warrior, Itumeleng Khune would always stretch to keep out the ball from crossing the goal-line.
With the one point they managed to secure in Cairo, Bafana are still leading Group G with eight points from four games and with the draw, Bafana continued to keep their clean sheet.
Bafana have not yet conceded at the 2012 Afcon qualifiers and they now need a win in their next match against Niger in Niamey in September to ensure qualification into the 2012 Afcon finals.
Bafana's last match will be played at home against Sierra Leone at home in October.
With the last night results, the Egyptian is still on the foot of Group G with only two points from four games
At the end of the 90 minutes, the referee awarded seven minutes of injury time, but the Egyptians who were all over Bafana Bafana was unable to score.
In the FIFA World rankings, South Africa is now fourth on the continent, and Egypt occupied the third position, while in the global rankings Egypt is 36 and Bafana Bafana are on the 38th position.
