Mosimane praises Bafana Bafana youngsters after perfect international break

Pitso Mosimane says South Africa’s younger players proved they could “swim with the sharks” after Bafana Bafana completed a perfect international break with a 1-0 victory over Egypt in Cairo.

Puso Dithejane scored in the second half to secure the win and give Mosimane three victories from three matches since taking charge during this camp. The result followed the team’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying fixtures against Guinea and Eritrea.

Mosimane made nine changes for the Egypt match, giving several players who had not featured in those qualifiers the opportunity to start. Sipho Chaine, Tashreeq Matthews, Lebone Seema, Brooklyn Poggenpoel, Thabang Matuludi, Luther Singh, Fawaaz Basadien, Dithejane and Cassius Mailula all made their first starts of the current camp.

Shandre Campbell, Khulumani Ndamane and Ricardo Goss were introduced in the second half.

Although South Africa took time to settle, Mosimane was pleased by the way his inexperienced side responded against a strong Egypt team.

“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,” he said.

“As the game progressed, we started to gain confidence, but what I like is that 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 and they swam.”

Mosimane prepared for Egypt’s approach

The former Al Ahly coach highlighted the performances of Campbell and Dithejane, while also singling out Orlando Pirates defender Lebone Seema for praise.

“Seema, big game he played. We have to put Ndamane there. Matuludi has been there and also it’s good to bring back Basadien,” Mosimane said.

He added that South Africa had been short of options in midfield and had to use Makhanya in that position late in the match. Egypt applied pressure through crosses and repeatedly put balls into the penalty area, but Mosimane said his knowledge of Egyptian football had helped the team prepare for that threat.

“We were under a lot of pressure, more balls in our box, crosses. But I know Egyptian football, so we prepared a lot, because a ball will always come from the full backs.”

Key players rested

Mosimane left out Oswin Appollis, Relebohile Mofokeng, Thapelo Maseko and Iqraam Rayners, while Teboho Mokoena, Bathusi Aubaas and Aubrey Modiba were recovering from knocks.

Modiba trained in Bafana Bafana’s final session before the match, but the technical team decided not to risk him in the friendly international.

“We had to rest Appolli (Appollis), Rele. We don’t need them for this match. Let’s see what we have at this level and there is no better game,” Mosimane said.

“Goss played and he saved us in the last 15 minutes. We can’t forget Chaine, he was the captain of the day. He did well. So, it’s good to see. Everything went well.”

Bafana Bafana’s next assignment is a back-to-back AFCON qualifying tie against Kenya in November.