Bafana Bafana kept their best performance of the year for last as they scored a dramatic 3-2 win over mighty Cameroon in a titanic Nelson Mandela Challenge match played at a packed Olympia Park on Wednesday night.

Although this was a friendly, it will go down as one of the classics.

Cameroon were minus their star striker Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona, captain Rigobert Song and Newcastle United's Geremi Njitap, who all failed to catch their flights to Johannesburg.

The Cameroon coach Otto Pfister had the cheek to lay the blame for their non-arrival at the door of the South African Football Association (Safa) who told the volatile coach it was his responsibility to make sure his players arrived and not Safa's.

The capacity crowd erupted when substitute Bernard Parker fired home the winner in the 82nd minute to ensure that Bafana ended the year on a high note after suffering the disappointment of failing to qualify for the 2010 African Nations cup finals in Angola. Bafana have now notched four wins in a row and that will give the players and under-fire coach Joel Santana plenty of confidence as they start preparing for next June's Confederations Cup.

Cameroon produced an over-physical performance which resulted in Bafana substitute Katlego Mphela being stretchered off the field in the 72nd minute after he was kicked in the head by by Modeste Mbani.

Bafana produced their best 25 minutes under Santana when star of the night, Teko Modise, scored twice to put the home side 2-0 ahead in 23 minutes. But then Bafana's Achilles heel, their defence, lost concentration and allowed the Indomitable Lions to score twice through free kicks to go into halftime 2-2.

Bafana had Cameroon on the ropes but have only themselves to blame for allowing Cameroon to level before halftime. Coach Joel Santana has some work to do when he begins preparing for the Confederations Cup here in June.

Modise showed his class when he put Bafana up 1-0 with a spectacular 30 metre goal that gave Cameroon's Spanish based keeper Carlos Kameni no chance in the sixth minute. The movement started with a pin-point through ball from defender Matthew Booth to Siphiwe Tshabalala which the Kaizer Chiefs winger cut inside, beat his marker and laid off the ball to Modise who rifled his shot into the net to the delight of the 20 000-strong crowd.

Modise made it 2-0 in the 23rd minute when he latched onto a clever through ball from Benni McCarthy and coolly placed his shot past the Cameroon keeper and into the net.

So far so good for Bafana but the euphoria last four minutes. Bafana midfielder Lance Davids conceded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area and Ngom Kome, who plays in Spain for Tenerife, beat Bafana 'keeper Itumeleng Khune with a well placed free kick to make it 2-1 in the 27th minute.

Kome, who was the dangerman in the opening half, headed against the side netting from a cross from Mbani in the 32nd minute.

At the other end, Modise forced Kameni to make another timely save from his powerful shot in the 33rd minute at the expense of a corner.

Cameroon levelled the score in the 35th minute when Bafana failed to defend another Kome free kick that found the head of Tehoi Somen who placed the ball out of Khune's reach.

Kameni did well to deny Macbeth Sibaya a goal two minute after the break.

Both Mphela, who had replaced McCarthy at halftime, and Tshabalala had shots saved by Kameni.

But it was two other substitutes, Parker and Thulasizwe Mbuyane who replaced Mphela that made the difference.

Kameni was forced to parry Mbuyane's powerful shot in the 82nd minute and Parker was on hand to blast the rebound into the net giving Bafana a well deserved 3-2 win.

But Modise could have made it 4-2 and scored hat-trick when he had his 89th minute penalty saved by Kameni after Modise was fouled inside the penalty area.

Sapa