South Africa revived their World Cup hopes after seeing off group leaders Burkina Faso 3-1 on Saturday at home. Percy Tau opened the scoring as early as the 1st minute before further goals from Themba Zwane (34) and Sibusiso Vilakazi (45) put the game beyond Burkina Faso's reach. The visitors pulled one back through Alain Traore in the 87th minute but that wasn't enough for them to take anything out of the game. The Bafana Bafana are still bottom of the group with four points, two behind leaders Burkina Faso, but they still have two games in hand against Senegal in November. Last September, FIFA ordered a replay of South Africa's win over Senegal 2-1 because the referee was corrupt. Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey was banned for life and the World governing body ordered the replay because he awarded a non-existent handball that allowed the South Africans to go 1-0 up. The FIFA investigation said that Senegal and South Africa have not been part of the match-fixing but Lamptey was involved in a betting scam. Burkina Faso officials have slammed the decision and questioned the reasons behind it. "If you want to replay a game you don't do it after other games had been played because it affects the balance in the group. The decision has been made to give maximize Senegal's chances," Burkina Faso football chief Sita Sangare was quoted as saying on French newspaper l'Equipe on Saturday. Senegal – who are third of the group with five points after 3 games – will play joint leaders Cape Verde (6 points) later on Saturday and could go clear at the top of this group if they can impose themselves in the National stadium of Praia before their double-header against South Africa next month. Burkina Faso filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sports against the decision but a date for the hearing hasn't been set yet. They have also revealed that they are in talks with Cape Verde and South Africa to take a collective action against the decision. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
