South Africa eased to a 4-0 win over Namibia on Sunday night in their second Group E match played at the Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly to bring their tournament back on track.
This match was a must-win for the Bafana Bafana who went into the game with zero points after being humbled 2-0 by Mali in their first match, with three points the paramount priority for the side in this encounter.
It would be Namibia who would come off the wood work early, but there would be a shift in momentum as a VAR review awarded South Africa a penalty after Riaan Hanamub was penalized for handling the ball inside the area after a tussle with Bafana forward Thapelo Morena.
Percy Tau’s penalty miss against Mali may have proved costly, but he stepped up for Bafana and blasted the penalty past Mali keeper Lloyd Kazapua to score what would be South Africa’s first goal of the tournament.
South Africa would double their advantage in the 24th minute as Thapelo Moreno’s low cross from the right side was calmly slotted in by the in-form Themba Zwane. He would double his account and South Africa’s third in the 40th minute as he wiggled his way through the Namibia defense to loft the ball over the Bafana keeper.
South Africa would settle the tie deep into the second-half as Teboho Mokoena’s pass put in Thapelo Maseko, whose blistering pace saw him blast a low-left shot past the legs of the on-coming Kazapua to seal the three points for the side.
South Africa now sit second in Group E with 3 points after two matches as they set their sight on Tunisia who have 1 point from their two encounters in the group. Namibia are third with three points but South Africa have a better goal difference. The Brave Warriors face Mali in their final match of the group.
John Njuguna
