Thapelo Morena Fires Brace in Bafana Bafana Victory Against Zimbabwe

Thapelo Morena Fires Brace in Bafana Bafana Victory Against Zimbabwe

Mamelodi Sundowns’ Thapelo Morena and his two heroic goals saw Bafana Bafana register a much needed three points after a 3-1 victory over Zimbabwe in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday evening at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.

A victory was crucial for coach Hugo Broos’ men following their draw against Nigeria at the weekend but it was not going to be a walk in the park for them as the relentless Warriors were also looking to collect all points on offer following their 2-0 defeat against Lesotho.

The packed Free State Stadium enjoyed a mouthwatering start as Iqraam Rayners opened the scoring, putting South Africa in the lead 30 seconds into the game. Over a minute later, The Warriors had retaliated and levelled matters. The first stanza delivered exciting football from both sides, with Bafana Bafana dominating possession and Zimbabwe beefing up their defence and no room for errors.

The second half of kicked off with Hugo Broos introducing fresh legs in the pitch. Morena came in for Elias Mokwana. This would turn out to be a good call made by Broos because ten minutes into his introduction, Morena put his side back on the lead through a shot at close range after the ball spilled out of the goalkeeper’s hands.

20 minutes later Morena would score his second goal to extend Bafana Bafana’s lead. It was Mamelodi Sundowns’ midfielder, Teboho Mokoena who made a defence splitting pass to find Morena who went past the keeper to shoot in the empty net to wrap it up for his side.

Bafana Bafana’s success over Zimbabwe has moved them up to a joint 7 points with Rwanda and Benin after four matches. They are currently languishing on second place and will be looking to maintain that position in the upcoming qualifying games. The next FIFA World Cup qualifier will be in March 2025 against Lesotho.