South Africa’s Bafana Bafana recorded their first win in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations following a dominating 4-0 win over Namibia to move second in the Group E standings with Themba Zwane scoring a brace.
Percy Tau opened the scoring for Hugo Broos’ side in the 14th minute from the spot, redemption from the 2-0 defeat by Mali in their opening game of the tournament.
In the 25th minute, Zwane added the second for South Africa before scoring his brace of the night five minutes from halftime. Thapelo Maseko’s goal in the last quarter of the game sealed the win for the one-time champions.
The victory put South Africa second in the group with three points behind Mali, who has four points. Namibia also has three points while Tunisia has only managed to accumulate one point
Meanwhile, in other matches of the day, Morocco remained top of Group F with four points despite being to a surprising 1-1 by DR Congo in their second group stage on Sunday evening.
Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi put the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists upfront in the sixth minute from close range but Silas Mvumpa’s late strike cancelled out the Atlas Lions’ lead and secured an important draw for the Congolese.
DR Congo could have won the game had it been Cedric Bakambu converted a late first half penalty that was awarded to them after Selim Amallah elbowed Henock Inonga inside his own 18-yard box.
Bakambu’s effort struck the goalpost. DR Congo now has two points from two matches.
The score line was the same in the other Group F fixture as 10-man Zambia held Tanzania to 1-1 draw at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro on Sunday.
Simon Msuva gave Tanzania the lead in the 11th minute of the game. In their effort to search for an equaliser Zambia was reduced to 10 men minutes before the halftime whistle after Rodrick Kabwe received a second yellow card.
Despite being a man down, Zambia equaliser came in the 88th minute Leicester City forward Patson Daka headed home Mbwana Samatta’s corner kick to salvage a point for the Copper Bullets.
At the two round of matches, Zambia has two points, same as DR Congo while Tanzania has one point, keeping the group open going into the final games of the group stage.