Lyle Foster scored Bafana Bafana’s solitary goal as they beat DR Congo 1-0 in an international friendly at a cold Orlando Stadium on Tuesday night.
It was a win that saw Bafana get back to winning ways after they drew their last match against Namibia at this very same ground last Saturday.
And while Foster racked up his fourth international goal to continue with his form at club level, Bafana are now unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions.
That will augur well for coach Hugo Broos building up to the World Cup qualifiers in November and the Africa Cup of Nations finals in January.
But before those matches, though, Bafana will play two more friendlies against Eswatini at home and Afcon hosts Ivory Coast away next month.
But having had another poor return from the supporters this evening after last Saturday, Broos will be hoping that they can do better to get more supporters at the stadium going forward.
Tonight’s return was even disappointing that Bafana seemed to be the away side as the partisan supporters of the visitors dominated.
But while the visitors had the 12th man on their side, their players still needed to cover the hard yards: get the goals and eventually the win. And it wasn’t to be.
They did, however, seem as though they’d find the opener as Chadrack Akolo tested the waters first, hitting a timid shot that Ricard Goss comfortably dealt with.
Goss’ comfortable start augured well for him, given that he was filling in the big shoes of captain Ronwen Williams who was reportedly unwell.
And while Goss did well to show why he deserved to jump Veli Mothwa in the pecking order early on, his nerves fully settled after Bafana grabbed the lead.
Foster churned up with the vital goal of the first half, sticking to his words that he wants to make the stadium that he knows well his hunting ground.
The former Orlando Pirates’ striker pounced home a loose ball inside the ball to take his tally to three goals in as many matches for Bafana at this ground.
And that was the perfect homecoming for him as he’s in familiar surroundings having cut his football teeth at this venue, while his family home is just 2km away.
Foster’s goal was the only difference between the two sides in the first half, but Bafana should have scored more had Bathusi Aubaas finished off a team move.
And while Bafana had the advantage leading to the second half, they still needed to dig deep to double their tally as the visitors’ support multiplied.
Congo were unfortunate not to make the advantage count early on as Goss came to his team’s rescue, making a double save to preserve Bafana’s lead.
Aubaas had a chance to double his team’s tally late in the game and possibly grab what could have been the winning goal, but his hard and low shot was saved by Lionel Mpasi.
And that’s how things ended as Foster continued to be the go-to-man for Bafana, something that will please Broos ahead of the World Cup qualifiers and Afcon finals.
@Mihlalibaleka
IOL Sport