Coach Joel Santana made three changes to the side that played Nigeria last weekend starting with Itumeleng Khune in goal (for Rowen Fernandez), Modise in midfield (for Lance Davids) and Thembinkosi Fanteni as a striker (for Derlon Buckley).

South Africa looked comfortable early on and impressed with continuous pressure on the Equatorial Guinea goal, creating their first chance as early as the fourth minute from a corner kick when Fanteni missed a header from a couple of yards out.

However, Bafana Bafana did not have to wait long to open the scoring and were rewarded in the 10th minute for their pressure when Kagiso Dikgacoi drove in a shot that landed in goal after taking a deflection off one of the Equatorial Guinea players.

Macbeth Sibaya and Dikgacoi continued to work hard in the midfield while Modise and Steven Pienaar worked their magic down the flanks, alternating positions, creating opportunities in front of goal almost at will.

One of the only setbacks in the first half was when Bevan Fransman went down, injured, in the 25th minute, after taking a knock that left him groggy and resulted in his substitution.

That didn’t dampen the mood for long as Modise showed a bit of class to create some trouble in the box, which resulted in his shot being deflected away only to fall onto the head of Surprise Moriri who looped it into the back of the net to give South Africa a 2-0 lead in the 35th minute.

Bafana Bafana went into the half as deserved leaders with Equatorial Guinea failing to create a single chance in front of goal.

The second half began much the same as the first one ended with South Africa controlling possession, dictating the pace of the game and dominating the midfield.

The third goal came 18 minutes into the second period after some good work down the left flank by Pienaar who combined beautifully with left back Tsepo Masilela to stick in a cross which Fanteni finished with class.

Equatorial Guinea looked dizzy as Bafana Bafana created a whirlwind of magic with their superior class and better quality football. The Nzalang Nacional tried to change things up by throwing on two quick substitutions but it made no difference.

The poor performance of Senegalese referee Samba was highlighted in the 78th minute after some confusion when Khune appeared to bring down substitute Pablo Armando. The referee first pointed to the penalty spot, and then it looked as if he had given a free kick just on the right side of the box, before pointing at the penalty spot again.

Equatorial Guinea’s substitute Edjogo coolly slotted home from the spot to bring the score back to 3-1.

Things seemed to go from bad to worse for about ten minutes as Skipper Aaron Mokena was substituted in the 78th minute after going off for what appeared as a knee injury.

Nevertheless, things soon returned to normal as Modise continued to create magic from the midfield allowing Dikgacoi to grab his second goal in the 93rd minute to finish the game with an entertaining 4-1 victory.

The difference on the day was the control maintained by the South African midfield. Sibaya and Dikgacoi held the middle of the park with strong defensive and much needed aggression in attack. This laid the foundation from which both Pienaar and Modise could rip Equatorial Guinea’s defence apart with smooth passing and good interchanges amongst the forwards as they did away with the long ball over the top and persisted with playing the ball on the floor, putting team mates into space.

Santana explained, after the match, that he was extremely happy with his team and said, “A win is good for the people, good for the players, good for him and good for the newspapers”. He will hope that the magic on Saturday continues against Sierra Leone this week but maintains that preparation is vital to victory, but for now he is happy.

Teams:

South Africa: Khune, Mokoena (Davids 78’), Moon, Fransman (Khumalo 25’), Masilela, Dikgacoi, Sibaya, Modise, Pienaar (Buckley 83’), Moriri, Fanteni

Equatorial Guinea: Danilo, Rondo, Alvarez (Armando 69’), Ivan Zarandona (Mesaka 70’), Doe, Duclait, Alfonso, Carolina, Balboa, Benjamin Zarandona (Edjogo 37’), Epitie