Bafana complete winning Cairo trip with victory over Egypt

Bafana Bafana completed a successful camp with a 1-0 friendly victory over Egypt at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday, with debutant Puso Dithejane scoring the only goal shortly after half-time.

Coach Pitso Mosimane made nine changes to the side that beat Eritrea 5-0 in an Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier on Wednesday, retaining only Ime Okon and Sphephelo Sithole.

The reshuffled side remained organised and competitive, despite Egypt controlling much of the opening 20 minutes. The hosts struggled to break down South Africa’s defence, with Omar Marmoush missing the target after eight minutes and Sipho Chaine denying Emam Ashour in the 28th minute.

Bafana created chances of their own before the interval, with the teams going into half-time level.

Mosimane made three changes at the break, bringing on Khulumani Ndamane, Tshepang Moremi and Shandre Campbell.

Campbell made an immediate impact by playing a ball over the top for Dithejane, who beat the Egypt goalkeeper to score on his senior debut.

Mosimane later replaced Chaine with Ricardo Goss, who made an important save to deny Egypt substitute Hamza Abdelkarim. Goss also defended a stoppage-time header from a corner, with the follow-up effort hitting the woodwork.

The victory completed a perfect camp for Mosimane’s side, who also beat Guinea and Eritrea in Afcon qualifiers. Bafana scored eight goals and conceded one across the three matches,

President Cyril Ramaphosa was among the dignitaries in the stands. He had visited the squad’s camp before the match, where he was welcomed by South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan and Mosimane.

The match also marked Mosimane’s return to Cairo, where he enjoyed success as club coach of Al Ahly.

Sources: IOL, The Citizen, Kickoff, Africasoccer; Afrik-Foot, & Briefly.