Bafana Bafana edged Namibia 1-0 in their second Afcon Group D encounter on Friday. DYLAN APPOLIS rates their individual performances.
GK: Darren Keet 7/10
Keet was named in goal ahead of Ronwen Williams, despite his impressive performance against Ivory Coast in their opening fixture.
However, Keet was soild between the sticks for Bafana, doing well to deal with the aerial threats from Namibia and he made a few notable saves to help South Africa see out the match.
RB: Thamsanqa Mkhize
Mkhize put in another superb performance for Bafana at right back and although we didn’t see much of him going forward, the Cape Town City captain was resilient throughout the game.
LB: Sfiso Hlanti 7/10
Hlanti remained a constant threat down the left flank but was often let down by his final ball into the box.
CB: Thulani Hlatshwayo 7/10
Hlatshwayo stamped his authority on defence and did well to contain the threat of Peter Shalulile and Shitembe while communicating well with defensive partner Mkhwanazi.
CB: Buhle Mkhwanazi 7/10
Mkhwanazi continued his impressive run on defence alongside Hlatshwayo and made a crucial block off the line to deny Deon Hotto in the second half.
CM: Hlompho Kekana 7/10
Kekana came in to replace the injured Dean Furman in the heart of Bafana’s midfield and brought a lot of movement going forward. He also unleashed a few trademark long-ranged shots on goal, although he failed to trouble the Namibian goalkeeper.
CM: Bongani Zungu 8/10
Zungu marked his first appearance at the 2019 Afcon with the winning goal after he headed the ball home from a Percy Tau corner.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns man showed his creativity in midfield alongside Kekana and remained a constant threat to Namibia going forward.
RAM: Themba Zwane 7.5/10
Zwane was instrumental going forward for South Africa and saw a lot of the ball while showing creativity with his short passes.
LAM: Sbusiso Vilakazi 6/10
Vilakazi returned to Bafana’s starting lineup and linked up well with Zwane while causing the Brave Warriors trouble on a few occasions.
ST: Percy Tau 8/10
Tau was not at his best in front of goal and squandered a few chances in the final third, but made up for it by setting Zungu up for the winning goal.
The former Sundowns star also proved difficult to deal with going forward and showed his superb work rate, which earned him the man of the match award.
ST: Lebo Mothiba 6/10
Mothiba, who started ahead of Lars Veldwijk, made a nuisance of himself in and around the Namibian box and showed a couple of good touches on the ball, although he lacked a bit of composure in the final third.
Substitutes:
Kamohelo Mokotjo 5/10
Mokotjo was introduced late in the second half, but brought stability in the middle of the park to break down Namibia’s attacking movements going forward.
Ramahlwe Mphahlele 6/10
Mphahlele came on for Mkhize in the second half, but was rarely troubled in the heart of the defence.
Lars Veldwijk N/A
Veldwijk was brought on to play the final minutes of the game and managed to produce a shot at goal in his short cameo coming on for Vilakazi in the dying minutes of the match.
