A late strike from Thembinkosi Lorch guided Bafana Bafana into the Africa Cup of Nations quater-finals after securing a 1-0 victory over Egypt at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday evening, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.
South Africa made their way into the knockout stages after finishing the group stages as the fourth-best third-places team.
Meanwhile, the Egyptians advanced to the Round of 16 after claiming three wins from three games during the group stages.
The hosts showed their intent early on and nearly opened the scoring but Mohamed Salah saw his strike deflect wide of the mark.
Bafana had a chance of their own in the 14th minute after Percy Tau unleashed a strike from distance but his effort was palmed away by Egypt keeper El Shenaway.
El Shenaway came to his sides rescue seven minutes later when he produced a fine save to keep out Tau’s curling free-kick.
Thembinkosi Lorch should have broken the deadlock in the 29th minute but was unable to direct his effort on target as it narrowly missed the post.
South Africa came close to taking the lead after 35 minutes after Lebo Mothiba picked out Kamohelo Mokotjo before the midfielder rifled his efforr just wide of the upright.
The game went into the half time interval with the scoreline locked at 0-0.
Bafana got the second half off to a shaky start and nearly handed the Egyptians the lead after a mix up in midfield but their effort sailed over the crossbar.
The hosts should have taken the lead in the 57th minute when Salah in played Trezeguet, who fired his shot from close-range straight into the hands of Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
Thami Mkhize nearly headed the ball back into his own net in the 62nd minute, but Williams came to his rescue by pushing the ball out for a corner.
Thulani Hlatshwayo nearly handed South Africa the lead after 69 minutes of play but saw his header sail wide of the target from a resulting free-kick.
Bafana continued to press forward and gain momentum as the game went into the final 20 minutes of play.
Lorch, who made his first appearance at the tournament, came close to breaking the deadlock in the 71st minute but saw hia tame effort easily saved by the Egyptians shot-stopper.
South Africa eventually took the lead in the 85th minute when Lorch slotted the ball past El Shenaway to make it 1-0.
Stuart Baxter made a double substitution in stoppage time when he introduced Hlompho Kekana and Lars Veldwijk to replace Dean Furman and Lorch respectively.
However, Bafana held on to their one-goal lead over Egypt until the final whistle to book their place in the quarter-final of the tournament.
