Bafana silence Egypt on Pitso's return to Cairo
by Kickoff writer · KickOffBafana Bafana continued their winning start under Pitso Mosimane with a 1-0 victory over Egypt in an international friendly on Sunday evening.
Teams: Egypt v South Africa
Result: 0-1
Scorers: Dithejane (51')
Bafana were in high spirits ahead of the contest following their 5-0 thumping of Eritrea, but coach Pitso Mosimane made wholesale changes by bringing in eight new players after Wednesday's win.
Omar Marmoush caused a lot of problems in the opening ten minutes and nearly got the opener when he drifted to the near side from a short run-up and curled wide of the far corner of the net.
Bafana still endured a tough opening spell and defensive uncertainty from a mis-timed clearance led Ibrahim Abdel to come inside, grab hold of possession and get a shot in, but Sipho Chaine managed to go down to collect
The visiting team came alive around the half-hour mark and produced a threat of note when Cassius Mailula dropped to the far side to shield a challenge and turned goal-side to unleash a shot, but goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir parried him.
Mamelodi Sundowns fullback Fawaaz Basadien had a chance too for the visitors’ minutes before halftime following a free-kick outside the area, but he couldn’t get the better of Shobeir.
Second Half:
Bafana coach Mosimane made a trio of substitutions at the start of the second half by throwing on Khulumani Ndamane, Tshepang Moremi, Shandre Campbell for Luther Singh, Tashreeq Matthews and Ime Okon.
It worked to great effect as the South African outfit seized control five minutes in when Campbell tucked in the centre of midfield to play a ball over the top for Puso Dithejane to beat Shobeir and the last defender to finish easily for his first international goal.
Egypt regained momentum and came within inches of the equaliser through a pin-point header at the near post from striker Zizo, but he was repelled by substitute goalkeeper Ricardo Goss.
The Pharaohs nearly snatched a draw deep in stoppage time with a header by Abdel from a corner, but Goss made a stop with the follow-up effort coming off the woodwork as Bafana survived to come away with the win and continued their perfect start under Mosimane.