Bafana Bafana have started the 2021 Cosafa Cup on a winning note after beating neighbours Botswana 1-0 in their opening clash of the competition at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium on Tuesday.
The winning goal came in the 67th minute thanks to substitute Kagiso Malinga, who got on the end of a long ball and fired home from a tight angle.
Speaking to SuperSport after the encounter, Bafana Bafana assistant coach Morena Ramoreboli was full of praise for Malinga.
"Looking at our bench, we only had three players. We made a very thorough analysis before the game. We knew that Malinga has been scoring a lot of goals for Swallows off the bench. Obviously when you have him on the bench bring him on and he will give you something. He did that exactly today. These are some of the players who showed signs of maturity," said Ramoreboli.
He was in charge of the clash after head coach Helman Mkhalele was placed in isolation while waiting on the results of a Covid-19 test.
Bafana next face Eswatini on Thursday.
Kick-off is at 15:00.