Pitso praised for taking on powerhouse Egypt

Pitso Mosimane has been praised for not avoiding friendly matches against African football powerhouses such as Egypt.

After a heavy 5-0 defeat to France, former Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos said that scheduling high-profile friendlies against stronger national teams served no purpose and could demoralize his 'young squad.

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Broos famously declined an invitation to play a friendly against Morocco just because Mamelodi Sundowns players were unavailable due to their CAF commitments.

Pitso Mosimane's Bafana Bafana will play a friendly against Egypt at Cairo International Stadium on Sunday, 4 April 2026.

Cavin Johnson, Mosimane’s former assistant coach at Al Ahly, believes this is the right approach. However, he advised Mosimane to give playing time to players who did not feature in the two AFCON qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea.

"You won both AFCON matches, and you won the last one by a significant margin. Against Egypt on Sunday, you should test the players who have not yet been tested so that you can make positive assessments ahead of your next match,” Johnson tells KickOff.

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“Several other factors affect rankings in friendly matches. I remember that we made a mistake once when we played Spain a long time ago. We beat them 1-0, but because Spain made eight substitutions, the match was not considered one that would affect the rankings. You must therefore comply with FIFA’s rules for a friendly to affect the rankings.

"It is fair for Pitso to play against teams such as Egypt because AFCON is coming up next year. You need to play the strongest countries to prepare properly."