Ime Okon earns Junior Khanye praise after Bafana Bafana victory

Ime Okon was praised by iDiski TV analyst Junior Khanye after scoring in Bafana Bafana’s 2-1 win over Guinea in their 2027 Group D AFCON Qualifier.

The Hanover 96 defender, 22, scored the opening goal at Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday as South Africa moved to the top of Group D with three points.

Okon formed a new centre-back partnership with Olwethu Makhanya, replacing Mbekezeli Mbokazi. The pair had also featured for Bafana Bafana in their FIFA World Cup match against Canada.

Khanye said Okon’s technical quality and understanding with Makhanya were key factors in South Africa’s performance against the West African side.

“That guy is a very good player,” Khanye said on iDiski TV.

“Technically very good and reading the game, complimenting each other with Makhanya. You can tell they play in Europe. You could hardly see those guys [Guinea] breaking us because we were asked questions we can’t say they didn’t come at us.”

Okon’s goal helped settle Bafana Bafana after Guinea tested them during the opening stages.

“Well done to these two centre-backs and we got the goal through Okon and it eased the pressure,” added Khanye.

South Africa created further opportunities before half-time and showed confidence in their passing and movement, despite Guinea posing a significant challenge.

“We got chances in the first half even the fluidity of our game and interchanging the ball. And this team challenged us,” said Khanye.

The full analysis of the 2027 Group D AFCON Qualifier between Bafana Bafana and Guinea is available on the official iDiski TV YouTube channel.