DURBAN – Hugo Broos’ Bafana Bafana got their World Cup qualifying campaign up and running thanks to Monday’s victory over Ghana at the FNB Stadium.
The win sees Bafana move to the top of Group G after two games, and well placed – at this early stage – to advance to the next round of qualifiers.
IOL Sport’s Eshlin Vedan takes a look at how each Bafana Bafana player performed during their famous win over the continental powerhouses.
Ronwen Williams (6.5): A fairly quiet afternoon for the Bafana Bafana keeper. Even he would have expected to be busier against the West African giants.
Evidence Makgopa (4): Missed a sitter in the second half. While the Bafana Bafana supporters would have been frustrated, the Ghana supporters would have been laughing. It will definitely go down as one of the most embarrassing moments of Makgopa’s career and is on far with Fernando Torres famous “miss of all misses”.
Percy Tau (6.5): A decent afternoon for the Al Ahly man. He looked more fine-tuned compared to how he fared against Zimbabwe. Hugo Broos will be impressed with the improvement. Should have not had his goal disallowed in the first half.
Siyanda Xulu (7): Another defensively astute performance from the experienced defender. He definitely looks like he can be a mainstay in the Bafana Bafana team under Hugo Broos’ reign.
Mothobi Mvala (6.5): Apart from an all-timed studs up challenge in the 54th minute, it was a decent shift from the Sundowns player as he helped to recycle possession.
Bongokuhle Hlongwane (9): Hlongwane is a player who is hungry for improvement. After an enterprising cameo against Zimbabwe, he was rewarded with a start in this game and scored a well-earned goal in the second half. Good awareness and caused the Ghana defence problems throughout the game.
Rushine De Reuck (7): A composed performance from De Reuck who helped prevent the Ghanaian attack and the experienced Andre Ayew from creating too many opportunities.
Teboho Mokoena (7.5): Another bright spark for Bafana in the game, he posed problems to the Ghana defence. He had a shot saved by Ghana keeper Richard Ofori in the first half and provided a would be assist to Makgopa in the second half which the latter somehow managed to miss.
Nyiko Mobbie (6.5): Whipped in the ball which Percy Tau struck and which should have counted. A decent afternoon for the 26-year-old.
Thapelo Morena (7): The 28-year-old showed that he is ready for international football. He made a vital interception in the first half to halt an attacking passage of play from Gideon Mensah.
Ethan Brooks (4.5): He still does not look up to date with international football. His positional awareness needs to improve and he gave away the ball needlessly in the first-half. Brooks needs to fine-tune his craft in the DStv Premiership but this would have been a good learning experience for him.
IOL Sport