Bafana Bafana depart for AFCON on winning note after beating Ghana

Hugo Broos said before the encounter that he would give opportunities to fringe players in the squad and the head coach stuck to his guns.

The likes of Ricardo Goss, Thabang Matuludi and Tshepang Moremi were all given rare starts.

Ghana were without their European-based stars as the Black Stars did not qualify for AFCON and fielded players plying their trade at home.

The hosts almost made the perfect start to the contest but Mbule's header went wide of the target.

The remainder of the first half was bereft of any clear goal-scoring opportunities with the young visitors giving a good account of themselves.

Sipho Chaine, Teboho Mokoena and Oswin Appollis were introduced from the bench in the second half as Bafana chased a morale-boosting win in front of a sizeable crowd.

The breakthrough came in the 56th minute when Mbule won the ball in the middle of the park and drove forward before unleashing a powerful effort that beat the Ghana goalkeeper.

Appollis missed a golden chance to double late on but it mattered little as Bafana saw out the victory.

Broos charges depart for Morocco on Wednesday with their first game in the continental tournament next Monday when they take on Angola.

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