Bafana Bafana Thrash Eritrea 5-0 as Pitso Mosimane Makes Perfect Start

Bafana Bafana continued their winning start under returning coach Pitso Mosimane with a convincing 5-0 victory over Eritrea in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Cairo on Wednesday night.

South Africa followed up Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Guinea with another three points, taking their tally to six points from their opening two Group D matches.

Relebohile Mofokeng was the star of the show, scoring twice as Bafana took control of the match before half-time.

The young attacker opened the scoring in the 19th minute after being played through by Oswin Appollis, before adding his second just before the break.

In the second half, South Africa continued where they left off. Sphephelo Sithole made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute after Eritrea goalkeeper Yonathan Sultan failed to hold Appollis’ effort.

Iqraam Rayners then added a fourth in the 63rd minute, with Appollis providing another assist.

Appollis capped an excellent individual performance by setting up substitute Luther Singh for Bafana’s fifth goal in stoppage time.

Ronwen Williams also made important saves late in the match to preserve South Africa’s clean sheet.

The result gives Mosimane a perfect start to his second tenure as Bafana Bafana coach.

His return began with Saturday’s 2-1 win over Guinea at Orlando Stadium, where Ime Okon opened the scoring before Samukele Kabini scored the winner in the 77th minute.

Four days later, Bafana produced a much more emphatic result against Eritrea, scoring five goals without reply.

South Africa now have six points from two matches in Group D, putting Mosimane’s side in a strong position after the opening two qualifiers, in which they scored a total of seven goals and conceded just one.

Bafana Bafana’s next assignment is a friendly against Egypt on Friday in Cairo.