Pitso Mosimane was delighted by the way Bafana Bafana’s inexperienced players responded as South Africa secured a 1-0 friendly win over Egypt at Cairo International Stadium on Sunday.
Twenty-two-year-old Puso Dithejane scored the decisive goal on his debut after fellow substitute Shandre Campbell, also making his first appearance, created the opportunity. The result gave Mosimane a third successive victory since returning for his second spell in charge.
Mosimane made several changes to the side, leaving out regulars including Ronwen Williams, Relebohile Mofokeng and Oswin Appollis. His starting line-up was largely made up of new and fringe players.
South Africa took time to settle, but the coach said the team grew into the match as the youngsters became more confident.
“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,” Mosimane said.
“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.”
Campbell, Dithejane and Lebone Seema were among those to earn particular praise from Mosimane. He also highlighted the contributions of Ndamane and Basadien, while stressing that the match had been an opportunity to assess 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,” he said.
“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 victory followed wins over Guinea and Eritrea in the first two Afcon qualifiers played a few days earlier. Bafana Bafana are top of Group D after two rounds of fixtures, but Mosimane knows qualification has not yet been secured.
South Africa face Kenya twice next month, with Mosimane expecting a difficult test against a side managed by Bafana Bafana’s all-time record scorer, Benni McCarthy.
“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,” Mosimane said.
