Bafana Bafana boss Hugo Broos has elected to go cautious and tactical against AFCON giants Egypt in the second match of the tournament for SA.
Both sides are on three points after SA overcame Angola by 2-1, with Egypt emerging victorious by the same score in the first round of matches.
The meeting between SA and Egypt therefore means that the winner of the encounter might potentially top the group, as the two are the strongest sides in the group and fan favourites to win the competition itself.
Broos, much to the surprise of many, has elected not to start with reliable players such as Relebogile Mofokeng and Sipho Mbule, who are likely to come on sometime in the second half to kill off the game or save the day if Bafana are trailing.
Instead, Broos went for a cautious approach, fielding hard-tackling midfielders in the form of the likes of Thalente Mbatha, Lebohang Mokoena and Sphephelo Sithole.
In the attack, the Bafana mentor chose to start with the sneaky Aswin Apollis, who might surprise the Pharoahs after scoring against Angola, who will be assisted by Tshepang Moremi as well as Lyle Foster, who is beaming with confidence from netting the winner against Angola and putting in a man-of-the-match performance.
As they say, why fix it if it’s not broken? And Broos went for attackers that are on form, while the likes of Mofokeng might create miracles from the bench.
The Bafana bench is looking solid with another reliable substitute in Evidence Makgopa, who always appears more effective and dangerous coming in from the bench.
The “Master Chef” Mbule, a darling of the Orlando Pirates faithful, is also notorious for turning water into wine like Jesus when the chips are down.
While Bafana’s attack is looking solid from the starters to the bench, our defenders will have to be wide awake against dangerous EPL forwards in the Egypt starting 11, such as Liverpool’s Mo Salah and Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush, who give world-class defenders sleepless nights in England.
But with Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Khuliso Mudau in the Bafana defence, they have proven to stand their own against the most aggressive attackers in the past.
Whatever happens, Bafana cannot afford to lose; a win is a must, while even a draw might do depending on how we do in the third match against neighbours Zimbabwe, who have a hard-on to give us a run for our money.
