Shikabala praises Mosimane after South Africa shock Egypt in Cairo

Former Egypt international Mahmoud “Shikabala” Hassan has praised Pitso Mosimane for his tactical approach after South Africa secured a 1-0 victory over the Pharaohs in Cairo.

Mosimane made nine changes to the Bafana Bafana side that thrashed Eritrea 5-0 in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, using Sunday’s international friendly to assess the depth of his squad.

The decision paid off as Puso Dithejane scored the only goal of the game, capitalising on an error by Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed Shobeir to give South Africa a notable victory.

While Mosimane rotated his squad and handed opportunities to several less-regular players, Egypt boss Hossam Hassan largely stuck with his established starters.

Shikabala believes Mosimane made the right decision by using the friendly to experiment with his squad and reduce the pressure on himself.

“​Mosimane is very smart. He was able to remove the pressure from him and bring in new players, and he played with substitutes against the Egyptian national team,” Shikabala said, according to Egypt Telegraph.

The former Zamalek forward questioned why Hassan did not take a similar approach and give some of Egypt’s younger players an opportunity.

“I wished Hossam Hassan would have brought on the young striker Hamza Abdel Karim, Omar Fayed and Tarek Alaa during the match,” he said.

“Today Hossam Hassan played with the starting lineup and lost everything.”

Shikabala also called for Egypt to strengthen their work on set pieces, suggesting Hassan’s coaching staff should include a specialist in that area.

“We want to add a member to the Egyptian national team’s coaching staff who specialises in set pieces, just like the big teams do,” he added.

The defeat was a disappointing end to Egypt’s international window, while South Africa completed a perfect run of three victories under Mosimane.

Bafana had previously beaten Guinea 2-1 before their 5-0 victory over Eritrea, with the win in Cairo providing Mosimane with another opportunity to assess his squad ahead of their upcoming AFCON qualifiers against Kenya.

For Mosimane, it marks an impressive start to his latest spell in charge, with three wins from his first three matches.