Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos was full of praise for midfielder Bathusi Aubaas following a midfield masterclass in Saturday's AFCON qualifier victory over Morocco at FNB Stadium.
Percy Tau opened the scoring as early as the 5th minute before Zakhele Lepasa doubled the host's lead to secure a morale-boosting win.
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The Atlas Lions pushed to get back into the game with Hakim Ziyech finding the back of the net on the hour mark, but Hugo Broos' charges held on to see out the match.
WHAT A TACKLE!Not often when defensive abilities get praised, but Bathusi Aubaas with a monster of a tackle and retains the ball. Absolutely brilliant! ?? This guys looks like a seasoned international on his debut!33 mins goneSouth Africa ???? 1-0 ???? Morocco pic.twitter.com/w9l4EV9XwT
— Sahil Ebrahim (@sahil_e) June 17, 2023
One of the stand-out performers on the night was TS Galaxy's Aubaas who put in a n inspired performance in the heart of midfield on Bafana debut and earned plenty of praise from Broos.
"Bathusi, you know I'm a coach who gives chances to young (inexperienced) players when they are ready for it," said Broos.
"I saw what I saw in training, on Bathusi, and I saw what I saw on Bathusi in his team (TS Galaxy). Then you see the qualities, he's a powerful player and that is very useful in midfield.
"Again congratulations on his performance because it was his first selection (cap) against an opponent like Morocco, great performance, really I'm very happy with it."
The win takes Bafana to the top of Group K above Morocco in the Afcon qualifier group stages. The continental showpiece will be played in January next year in Côte d'Ivoire.
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