Pitso Mosimane hails Bafana Bafana youngsters after Egypt win

Pitso Mosimane praised the younger members of Bafana Bafana after they secured a 1-0 victory over Egypt in a friendly at Cairo International Stadium on Sunday.

The South Africa coach made wholesale changes, leaving out several regulars including Ronwen Williams, Relebohile Mofokeng and Oswin Appollis to assess a side largely made up of new and fringe players.

The decision was rewarded when 22-year-old Puso Dithejane scored the winning goal on his debut after being set up by fellow substitute Shandre Campbell, who was also making his first appearance.

Mosimane admitted his reshaped team took time to settle in the opening stages.

“It was a little bit difficult to see the first five minutes. We couldn’t find our feet. It’s normal because we brought the younger ones… we changed the whole team, so it takes a little bit of time to gel,” he said.

The coach was encouraged by the way the newcomers responded as the match progressed, particularly their willingness to take responsibility against strong opposition.

“As the game progressed, we gained confidence. What I like is that they [new players] are not afraid to play. We need to give them a chance… I let them swim with the sharks, threw them in the deep end, and they swam,” Mosimane added.

He singled out Campbell, Dithejane and Lebone Seema for praise, while explaining that Appollis and Mofokeng were not required for the match because he wanted to examine alternative options.

“It was good to see Shandre, Puso and all the younger ones. Seema had a big game… we had to put Ndamane. It was also good to bring them Basadien,” said Mosimane.

“We had to rest Appollis, Rele… we don’t need them for this match because we wanted to see what other options we had at this level. There’s no better game to give new players a chance than this one… let them swim and drown and come out. They did come out.”

The result was Mosimane’s third successive win since returning for his second spell in charge of Bafana Bafana. South Africa had beaten Guinea and Eritrea in their opening two Afcon qualifiers a few days earlier.

Despite those results, Mosimane stressed that qualification for Afcon was not yet secured. Bafana Bafana lead Group D after two rounds of fixtures, but face two matches against Kenya next month which he expects to be decisive.

Kenya are coached by Benni McCarthy, Bafana Bafana’s all-time record scorer, and Mosimane believes his former international colleague will provide a significant challenge.

“We have to qualify for Afcon. It looks good now, but we haven’t arrived. We have Kenya back-to-back. Benni will never allow us to win easily… he’s a fighter by nature. Those two games will determine our fate before we go to Guinea,” he said.