Mokoena hands SA first win at Under-23 Afcon 

Mokoena, who was one of the players who arrived late at the camp, scored from a free-kick in the 79th minute to give South Africa their first three points at the tournament.

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David Notoane’s side began the competition with a goalless draw against Zambia this past weekend.

The win for the South Africans sees them take a step closer to qualifying for the semifinals of the tournament and head coach of South Africa David Notoane was happy with the victory.

“We are happy that we won and getting our first three points in the tournament in a very tough match against a very good side Ivory Coast,” said Notoane.

“This was a both tactical and physical match which needed a special moment to determine the end result, and I am glad that we are the ones who managed to come up with it.

“Mokoena was pleasant surprise for us when he stepped up to take that free kick,” Notoane said. “We have a number of few players such as Luther Singh, Sipho Mbule and Kobamelo Kodisang who would normally take free kicks for us on any given day, however, the lad (Mokoena) felt pretty confident about this one. If you ask me, I would not have been happy to have drawn in my second group match (following their 0-0 draw in our opening group against Zambia), and I am truly happy that we were able to push for this winning result in this tie.”

The young Bafana Bafana will take on Nigeria in their last group stages game on Friday – with a win for South Africa guaranteeing them a place in the last four having registered four points in two games and they are on top of Group B standings.

While their next opponents Nigeria are on second place with three points, level with Ivorians who are occupying third place, as the two sides are separated by goal difference.

Zambia are last in the group with only one point.

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