Bafana Bafana earned a remarkable victory over Egypt at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday evening in a friendly match.
Puso Dithejane’s second-half strike proved to be the difference on the night with the visitors walking away with a 1-0 victory.
What made the win all the more impressive was the fact that Pitso Mosimane opted to rest most of his regulars, fielding an extremely young and inexperienced team against a proper Pharaohs outfit.
Barring Mohamed Salah’s absence, Egypt were really close to a full strength side while Bafana Bafana had no less than nine ‘fringe’ players starting the match.
Bafana’s top three performers against Egypt
Puso Dithejane was arguably South Africa’s top performer on the night. Despite being just 22-years-old, the winger showed his class by scoring the match-winning goal.
Apart from the incredible skill and composure he showed for his goal, he was lively in attack throughout the match and also provided good cover to his full-back Thabang Matuludi when required.
Another solid performer was Matuludi himself. He’ll want to work on his finishing as he could’ve scored a brace on the night however it was an impressive performance on both side’s of the field for him.
The Sundowns defender was solid in defence, adventurous in attack and ended the match with an incredible nine successful recoveries. He also completed the difficult task of shutting Omar Marmoush out, with excellence.
Fellow defender Lebone Seema also produced a standout performance at the back. He showed great maturity to deal with Egypt’s dangerous attack and help his side keep a clean-sheet.
Another notable mention is that of Sipho Chaine, who looked solid in goal for Bafana. He was however subbed off for Ricardo Goss on the hour mark, who also helped keep the opposition at bay.
All in all, coach Pitso Mosimane will be pleased with his ‘fringe squad’ who earned a superb victory against a solid Egyptian side. In fact, many of tonight’s starters could soon find themselves playing ahead of Bafana’s regulars after tonight’s performance.
Photo: Zamani Makautsi/Gallo Images
