International Friendly
South Africa vs Uganda
Orland Stadium, Soweto
Thursday, June 10 @7pm
Cranes will take on South Africa in an international friendly on Thursday at the Orlando Stadium.
Both sides will be aiming to bounce back from their poor performances in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers back in March.
With 10 points from six games, South Africa finished third in Group C of the AFCON qualifiers, two points behind second-placed Sudan.
In their last outing, Hugo Broos’ men needed a draw in their final group game to secure qualification, but they fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Sudan.
Saifeldin Maki and Mohamed Abdelrahman scored first-half goals to end Sudan’s three-game losing streak against Bafana Bafana.
Similarly, Uganda missed out on a place in the Africa Cup of Nations as they finished third in Group B of the qualifiers.
The Cranes picked up two wins and two draws from six games and were seated two points behind second-placed Malawi.
Thursday’s game will be Uganda’s first outing since their narrow 1-0 defeat against Malawi back in March.
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Abdallah Mabiru’s men will aim to return to winning ways and pick up a morale boost ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers scheduled to begin in September.
Cranes aims at ending South Africa’s dominance
South Africa have been the better side in this fixture, claiming three wins from their five meetings with Uganda.
The Cranes, meanwhile, have managed one win, while it has ended all square once.
The two nations last met at the COSAFA Cup back in 2019, where South Africa progressed to the next round on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regular time.
This will be the first game in charge for newly-appointed head coach Hugo Broos.
However, he will not be on the touch-line due to COVID-19.
The Belgian manager will be unable to call up the services of Brighton and Hove Albion striker Percy Tau and Teboho Mokoena, who have both tested positive for COVID-19.
Midfielder Sipho Mbule is also a doubt after he reportedly made contact with COVID-19 infected teammate Mokoena.
Mosa Lebusa and Rivaldo Coetzee also face late fitness tests to determine their availability.
Uganda travelled without striker Eric Kambale who contracted COVID-19 and is currently self isolating.
