Out-of-favour Pirates striker helps Bafana reach Cosafa semis

Bafana Bafana reached the semi-final of the Cosafa Cup thanks to a second half brace from substitude Tshegofatso Mabasa.

Morena Ramoreboli’s side come from a goal down to beat Eswatini 2-1 in a fiercely-contested Cosafa Cup clash at the Princess Magogo Stadium, in KwaMashu in Durban, on Tuesday night.

The victory saw Bafana top of Group A with seven points and reach the semifinals of the regional competition. Defender Keegan Allan returned to the starting lineup after he missing out in the win against Botswana at the weekend due to a groin injury, and the change had the desired.

Bafana next tackle Zambia in the semi-final

The home side failed to find any openeing in the first half and that continued to be the pattern in the second until Bongwa Matsebula of Swaziland took the lead in the 55th minute following a series of defensive errors from Bafana’s backline.

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Ramoreboli made three quick changes, taking the match to Eswatini as the home side went in search of the equalizer. Thabo Cele was replaced by Shaun Mogaila, Sepana Letsoalo was replaced by Tshegofatso Mabasa and Rowan Human by Tebogo Tlolane.

The trio changed the complexion of the match and helped the hosts to move the ball faster to the Eswatini defensive third.

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“Tshego can score goals at any given time. He might not give you what [Sepana] Letsoalo would give you in terms of being quick into spaces, like [Iqraam] Reyners, but Tshego is a finisher,” Ramoreboli said after the game.

“Again, it was also a risk and a motivation for Tshegofatsho Mabasa because he needs to come back and remind people who Tshegofatso Mabasa [is].

“In the match against Botswana, we did not use Tebogo Tlolane, but today we have to play him because we needed a bit of anaerobic endurance in the midfield in terms of covering the distance, and also the thinking because he could hold the ball and see the opponents. We needed that.

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“Against Botswana we overused [Shaun] Mogaila and in this match we had to try and manage his energy, that is why we had to bring him later.”

Bafana will face best runner-up, Zambia, in the semi-final on Friday at the King Zwelithini stadium at 18:00.

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