DURBAN: South Africa ended an awful week on a positive note when next month’s African Nations Cup hosts began their preparations with a 3-1 home win over Malawi inDurban.

Yet the game remains in crisis after four senior officers of the South African Football Association were suspended over matchfix allegations concerning their pre-World Cup friendlies in 2010. The four include SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani.

Lehlohonolo Majoro and Siphiwe Tshabalala both scored from close range in the first 13 minutes but Malawi hit back two minutes into the second half with a penalty from Joseph Kamwendo.

South Africa regained a two-goal advantage with a penalty of their own 15 minutes from the end by midfielder May Mahlangu.

Having struggled up front for most of the year, winning only 3 of 10 games in 2012, South Africa’s men’s football team has slipped again on the FIFA rankings

South Africa dropped three places to 87th in the latest FIFA world rankings, published this past week.

Bafana Bafana play two more warm-up games against Norway on January 8 and Algeria on January 12 before they kick off the Nations Cup at Soccer City in Johannesburg on January 19 against Cape Verde Islands.

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