Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane was pleased with his side’s performance after South Africa secured a 1-0 victory over Egypt in Sunday evening’s friendly in Cairo.
Mosimane made nine changes to the starting XI that faced Eritrea in the previous AFCON qualifier, giving several fringe players an opportunity to prove themselves.
The gamble worked, with debutant Puso Dithajane producing the match-winning moment to secure a memorable victory over the Pharaohs at the Cairo International Stadium.
Mosimane was delighted with the response from his players, saying the match provided an important opportunity for those on the fringes of the squad.
The Bafana coach was particularly impressed by their performance against a strong Egyptian team, with the result underlining the depth available to him.
“Yeah, it was a little bit difficult, you see the first five minutes, we could not find our feet. It’s normal because we brought the younger ones, we changed the whole team. It takes a little time to gel and to come in, but as the game progressed, they gained confidence,” said Mosimane.
“What I like is they are not afraid to play, and we need to give them a chance. I let them swim with the sharks, throw them in the deep end. Yeah, they swam, so it’s good to see Shandre [Campbell], Puso [Dithejane], all the young ones.
“[Lebone] Seema, big game, he played, we have to put him [Khulumani] Ndamane. [Thabang] Matuludi has been there, and also, it’s good to bring back [Fawaaz] Basadien because he was with the national team.
“We were a little bit thin in the midfield. I had to play Makanya in the midfield at the end. But it’s part of football, you got to do what you have to do. We were under a lot of pressure, more balls in our box, crosses.
“But I know the Egyptian football, right? So, we prepared a lot because the ball would always come from full-backs. Henny, the right-back, was my player all the time. But Marmoush was a little bit of a problem.
“You can see why he’s playing in the Premier League, right? He’s fast, he’s quick, but Lebone [Seema] is quick. So, it was good.
“At least we didn’t change a lot in the centre-back because I didn’t want Lebone to play alone with Ndamane on a big game. So, I kept Ime [Okon] a little bit to play, but I promised Ndamane he would come in the second half. He came on, we had to rest Oswin [Appollis], Rele [Mofokeng].
“We don’t need them for this match. Let’s see what we have at this level. There’s not any other better games you can give them. You have to give them this one. Let them swim and drown and come up. And they did come out.
“Everybody played, [Ricardo] Goss played. He saved us in the last 15 minutes. We can’t forget [Sipho] Chaine was the captain of the day, as I said. We have different captains. He did well, it’s good to see. Shandre [Campbell] came, Puso [Dithejane] is fast, he’s quick. Everything went well.”