AFCON 2025: With A Statement Win, South Africa Get Off To A Great Start

It was a great display of football for Africa and the world at large at the Stade de Marrakech where South Africa had to dig deep to get the win against Angola in their opening game at the ongoing AFCON tournament in Morocco as they edged out their opponent with a 2-1 victory in a Group B opener.

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This puts them firmly in control of the group, pending the result from the other game between Egypt and Zimbabwe. Coming into this match, they unbeaten and have now stretched that run to 12 games (W6, D6) but they were also facing a team that they’ve not beaten at the AFCON.

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With both sides having a point to prove, it was a keenly contested match in the opening minutes but the Bafana Bafana managed to exert some sort of dominance with the goal scoring chances as Teboho Mokoena’s long-range strike flew narrowly over the bar.

On the other hand, Angola were not left out either as Fredy’s brilliant left-footed volley was pushed away by Ronwen Williams and just when things started to settle into a familiar rhythm, South Africa found the opener in the 21st minute through Oswin Appollis.

The Orlando Pirates forward cut into the box from the right and drilled an unstoppable right-footed finish into the bottom corner but with this goal, the opponent seemed to wake up as they tested Williams in goal several times and the keeper made an unusual save to keep out Gelson Dala’s header.

That pressure eventually paid off as the equalizer finally came in the 35th minute thanks to Show’s superb improvised sliding finish from Fredy’s free-kick, marking his 50th cap in style. They eventually had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the first half of but not from lack of attempts.

When the second half got underway, South Africa showed intent and purpose that they wanted the win, starting with the introduction of Tshepang Moremi ahead of the kick off and the forward almost had an immediate impact but was unlucky to see it disallowed.

He had restored their lead within six minutes of the restart after unleashing an excellent left-footed strike past Hugo Marques but the goal was ruled out for offside and it would have been the 25-year-old’s first goal for his country, but the goal was eventually ruled out by VAR.

The reason was because Lyle Foster had interfered with play from an offside position. Both sides were pressing forward for a winner as the game was heading for draw and then Lyle Foster missed a great opportunity as he kicked his attempt over the bar from a promising position after being expertly picked out by Moremi.

After several missed chances, they eventually found the winner in the 79th minute through Foster as the Burnley striker curled a delightful curling effort past the keeper and that was enough to secure the win as they held on until the final whistle for a precious three point.

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With this win, they will be going into their next game with plenty of confidence but will be facing seven-time champions Egypt on Boxing Day, while Angola will be taking on Zimbabwe in their next game, but first, the other two teams will have to face each other later on today.

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