South African duo Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Puso Dithejane both featured for Chicago Fire who saw off Detroit City 2-1 in the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 on Tuesday.
It was however a day to forget for Dithejane who was given his marching orders 10 minutes from time in his full debut for Fire.
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Mbokazi and Dithejane joined the Major League Soccer outfit in January this year from Orlando Pirates and TS Galaxy, respectively.
Though ‘TLB’ has already established himself at Fire, having featured in every match since the league got underway, even walking away with the Man of the Match award in their 1-0 win over Atlanta United recently, Dithejane had to bide his team before making his full first team debut.
It did however not go as planned for the former Kaizer Chiefs youth product as he was shown a straight red card for what appeared to be a hand to the face.
The visitors however walked away with maximum points thanks to Jason Shokalook’s first-half brace to seem them through to the Round of 16.
Detroit City’s consolation came from South African striker Darren Smith who has been in red-hot form for the USL Championship outfit, taking his tally to six goals in six matches across all competitions.
Chicago will now wait to see who they face in the next round between Njabulo Blom’s ex-club St Louis City or Tulsa FC, who have Bafana Bafana midfielder Jamie Webber on their books.
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