Dream start for Mosimane as South Africa stun Egypt in Cairo

[p]Following their wins over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/guinea/lGDZlkOb/"]Guinea[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/guinea-lGDZlkOb/south-africa-W2ijYvlr/?mid=zRsbxXZF"]2-1[/a]) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/eritrea/ns8a5zLl/"]Eritrea[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/eritrea-ns8a5zLl/south-africa-W2ijYvlr/?mid=WUlqTSd2"]5-0[/a]) in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Mosimane could not have asked for more from his team.[/p][p]Here are five things from the game in the Egyptian capital.[/p][p] [/p][p][b]Much-changed Bafana[/b][/p][p]Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane made nine changes to his side from the team that thumped Eritrea 5-0 last week. Only centre-back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/okon-ime/EFI44jgD/"]Ime Okon[/a] and midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/yaya-sithole/8QxUv8F5/"]Sphephelo Sithole[/a] were retained as Mosimane had a look at his wider squad.[/p][p]There was a first Bafana cap for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mamelodi-sundowns/lxZ6Bzh6/"]Mamelodi Sundowns[/a] winger [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matthews-tashreeq/tlUN637L/"]Tashreeq Matthews[/a] and a return to the team for left-back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/basadien-fawaaz/WSudLcIq/"]Fawaaz Basadien[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chaine-sipho/pO7ZpkDI/"]Sipho Chaine[/a] got a run in goal as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-ronwen/lQRX0UzA/"]Ronwen Williams[/a] took a rest, and he also took over the captaincy.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/campbell-shandre/bo9R7dT1/"]Shandre Campbell[/a] came on at halftime for his debut, replacing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/singh-luther/z37rCFPO/"]Luther Singh[/a], who did not click on the night.[/p][p]There was no [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salah-mohamed/08FBycgB/"]Mohamed Salah[/a] in the starting team or on the bench for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/egypt/bejDn7NN/"]Egypt[/a] as his absence from the side continued.[/p][image alt="Match statistics" id="bb7c0bea-9c44-47e7-a8e0-80a5da18e200" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="a52d445c-b54d-40a4-9c1e-c9603b1b368b" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]Bad miss by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marmoush-omar/44pYRYIC/"]Marmoush[/a][/b][/p][p]Omar Marmoush had an excellent chance to open the scoring early on when he beat the offside trap and fashioned a shooting chance, but curled his effort wide of the far post.[/p][p]He should have hit the target at the very least, though he was put under some pressure.[/p][p]It was part of a bright opening from the Egyptians in which they dominated possession against the inexperienced Bafana side.[/p][p] [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matuludi-tholo/0dMwlCzI/"]Matuludi[/a] bombing forward[/b][/p][p]It was noticeable how far forward right-back Thabang Matuludi was getting, often the furthest man forward, in fact.[/p][p]In the first half, the two best chances fell to him as he skewed the first wide and then blazed over the bar with the second.[/p][p]Compare that to Basadien on the left, and he barely seemed to get over the halfway line.[/p][p]It was clearly a plan from Bafana to attack Egypt on the right and, to a degree, it worked in terms of getting Matuludi into scoring positions.[/p][p] [/p][p][b]Bafana lead![/b][/p][p]Bafana took the lead on 51 minutes and, while it was a howler from Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dithejane-puso/j7xVIm1h/"]Puso Dithejane[/a] showed good hustle to win the ball ahead of him and finish into an empty net.[/p][p]Credit must first go to Campbell for a superb ball forward that set Dithejane on goal.[/p][p]Shobeir raced off his line to try to win the ball first, but was not brave enough and Dithejane won it off him, rounded a defender and side-footed into an empty net for his first international goal.[/p][p]He had been quiet up to that point, but the goal is a continuation of his excellent season with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chicago-fire/UwAwNo2E/"]Chicago Fire[/a].[/p][image alt="The last five meetings" id="f81317a1-7f84-477a-b6ef-f7c55cb1eb80" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="c55137c6-0a85-4f33-9c93-c8ebc754baaf" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]Great save [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/goss-ricardo/dEZDIGdM/"]Goss[/a][/b][/p][p]Ricardo Goss has not played any competitive football since August but was brought on in the second half as Mosimane gave all his goalkeepers a run in this window.[/p][p]He showed his reflexes are sharp, though, with a fine stop from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/abdelkarim-hamza/jPwJgdF6/"]Hamza Abdelkarim[/a]’s bullet header with a little under 20 minutes to go.[/p][p]The tall striker got a powerful effort on target and Goss beat it away with a strong pair of wrists.[/p][p]He was less convincing when he came out and tried to clear with his feet, sending [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a] forward Abdelkarim sprawling. The striker wanted a penalty, but the officials held firm.[/p][p]Goss then made a stunning save late on from a header at a corner and the ball rebounded away off the crossbar as Bafana held on.[/p][p] [/p][infobox id="584d9683-f419-4696-8cb3-c155213092a0" /]