Mosimane hails Bafana Bafana’s squad depth after Egypt victory

Pitso Mosimane praised the strength of his Bafana Bafana squad after a much-changed South Africa side defeated Egypt 1-0 in Sunday evening’s friendly at the Cairo International Stadium.

Mosimane made nine changes to the team that started against Eritrea in the previous AFCON qualifier, handing several fringe players the chance to make their case. The decision paid off as debutant Puso Dithejane scored the decisive goal against the Pharaohs.

The Bafana Bafana coach said the match had been an important test for his younger players and was pleased with the way they responded against a strong Egypt team.

“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.”

Mosimane explained that he kept Ime Okon in central defence because he did not want Seema to face Egypt alongside Ndamane alone in such a demanding game. Ndamane was introduced in the second half, while Oswin Appollis and Rele Mofokeng were rested.

“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.”

Mosimane also credited goalkeeper Ricardo Goss, who he said kept South Africa in the match during the final 15 minutes. Sipho Chaine captained the side, while Campbell and Dithejane also impressed.

“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.”