Bafana Bafana were held to a goalless draw by Egypt at half-time in their friendly at the Cairo International Stadium.
The match began at 20:00, with both sides creating opportunities but neither able to break the deadlock before the interval.
South Africa produced their most promising attack after 27 minutes when P. Dithejane released F. Basadien, although his cross was blocked for a corner. Dithejane then struck a volley from the resulting set-piece, but sent it well wide.
Two minutes earlier, Egypt goalkeeper Shobeir dealt comfortably with C. Mailula’s effort from the right channel, which lacked the power to trouble him.
Bafana Bafana had threatened in the 20th minute when T. Matthews played in T. Matuludi. The right-back’s cross-cum-shot travelled across the face of goal without finding the net.
Matuludi came even closer in the 38th minute, meeting L. Singh’s pass with a powerful first-time effort that flew narrowly over the crossbar.
Egypt had their own early chances. Omar Marmoush found space on the left in the ninth minute before curling just wide, while Hany volleyed over from the edge of the box three minutes later.
Egypt won the first corner of the match in the sixth minute after a tackle by Matuludi, while L. Seema made an important intervention in the second minute to stop Marmoush entering the penalty area.
The referee brought the opening period to an end after 45 minutes with the score still Egypt 0-0 Bafana Bafana.
Teams and build-up
Bafana Bafana entered the match with confidence after beating Eritrea 5-0 in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match earlier in the week. Egypt had recorded the same score against South Sudan away from home.
South Africa head coach Pitso Mosimane made no fewer than nine changes to his starting line-up. He had said he wanted to test different combinations and provide other members of the squad with an opportunity against strong opposition.
The fixture also marked Mosimane’s return to familiar territory after his successful club coaching career in Egypt. Egypt are managed by Hossam Hassan.
Bafana Bafana started with Chaine (GK), I. Okon, L. Seema, T. Matuludi, F. Basadien, S. Sithole, B. Poggenpoel, T. Matthews, P. Dithejane, L. Singh and C. Mailula.
Their substitutes were Williams (GK), Rayners, Mbuthuma, Zwane, Campbell, Moremi, Kabini, Morena, Makhanya, Ndamane, Sibisi and Goss (GK).
Egypt’s starting line-up was Shobeir; Hany, Rabia, Abdelmuguid, Karim, Mohamed, Attia, Ashour, Ibrahim, Marmoush and Zizo.
Their substitutes were Mahdy, Alaa, El Balayouti, Tarek, Fayed, Fatouh, Saber, Ali, Zizo, Osama and Hamza.
The match was being televised on SABC 3.
