Bafana's Mphela beats Egypt with last minute goal

Our 200 Post

- Bafana wins and South Africa Under 23 wins , what a weekend for South African international soccer.

Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane’s faith in his key players, Mphela included, is beginning to pay off. Mphela had not threatened for most of this agonisingly tense contest — but Mosimane kept him in the mix until the end, knowing his coolness in the box could decide the contest at the death.

“It was a big chess game,” said Mosimane afterwards. “It was a tough mental game, emotionally exhausting. A big win against a team that has tormented the whole of Africa for the last six years. The boys are singing non-stop in the dressing room,” he said.

“They want to write their own history. They are young, and they believe it's important to stay calm. Technically, there was room for improvement on our side. There were periods when our passing was not as swift as theirs.”

Indeed it was only in the final quarter, following the introduction of Tlou Segolela, that Bafana mustered enough directness and intensity to trouble the Egyptians -- but found their legendary keeper Essam El Hadary in typically defiant mood.

Katlego "Killer" Mphela

This was the period during which the unfit Egyptians were scripted to crumble in Jozi’s altitude. No such luck. If anything, they grew stronger, emboldened by the prospect of nicking all three points. And Mohamed Shawky should have done precisely that — he stabbed an attempt narrowly wide of Itumeleng Khune’s post with 12 minutes remaining.

With the game teetering, Bafana coach Mosimane brought on leftback Ruben Cloete for Siboniso Gaxa, and Reneilwe Letsholonyane for an exhausted Steven Pienaar.

His Pharaohs counterpart Hassan Shehata deployed his notoriously resilient 3-5-2 formation: with three successive Nations Cups in the bag, why fiddle with the formula? It works a treat, and last night the Pharaohs crafted more and better opportunities than the hosts.

Shehata raised a few eyebrows by leaving out star forwards Mohamed Zidan and Mohamed Aboutrika. In their stead he paired Hamdy Al-Sayed with the rising sensation Mahmoud “Shikabala” Abdelrazak.

Bafana found themselves in command of the early exchanges, with the Egyptians deferring to their hosts in the possession battle. Siphiwe Tshabalala and Steven Pienaar both looked inventive and willing to stand up to the Pharaohs' physical barrage.

But that old Bafana tradition of fluffing the final ball was frustratingly in evidence: Katlego Mphela and Bernard Parker skipped down the right channel before failing to scan the box and measure an incisive cross.

Meanwhile, the Egyptians began to forage for openings, which came with troubling frequency. Moawad and Shikabala riffed down the left flank, and midway through the half a heroic block by Morgan Gould denied Shikabala the opener.

From a Shikabala corner, unmarked defender Mahmoud Fathalla powered a header narrowly over the crossbar. Al-Sayed came close to converting a driven Shikabala cross on the brink of half-time. But Bafana survived the Egyptian onslaught, persevered to the end, and made history.