Bafana Bafana and Mozambique played to a 1-1 draw in their opening clash at the COSAFA Cup on Wednesday evening.
A totally new eleven comprised mainly players from teams in the DStv Premiership, included the liks of Devon Titus, Sinoxolo Kwayiba, Ethan Brooks while Thabang Sibanyoni spear-headed the forward line.
Managed by assistant coach Helman Mkhalele, the host were on the attack repeatedly earlier on and saw Asanele Velebayi denied by the upright after attempting to finish off the head.
The Mambas started to pull together before the half-hour mark and captain Dario pounced on a loose ball to go on the break to dink Mpoto, but the latter repelled emphatically.
Suddenly, a period of the momentum remained with the Mambas who keenly looked to break in-behind the fancied host to wreak misery on Mpoto and company.
Bafana, though, didn't show any signs of cracking and instead bagged the opener five minutes before halftime where captain Rushwin Dortley displayed extreme composure and dispatched Titus' lay-off.
A double substitution was made by the Mambas ahead of the resumption which had Chamito Alfandega and Fernando Domingos come on the park.
The Mambas made good of the enforcements to claw on level terms after the self-same Alfandega surged forward and lashed into the bottom-corner from around 26.
Bafana aimed to regain control on proceedings in the latter exchanges before seeing second half substitute Keanu Cupido slam over from point-blank range.
In the final periods, the overall play didn't favour any team a great deal but were pretty balanced and thus a stalemate were how it remained.
Confirmed line-ups:
Bafana Bafana: Mpoto, Modise, Matuludi, Moloisane, Dortley, Poggenpoel, Kwayiba, Brooks, Sibanyoni, Velebayi, Titus
Subs: Xulu, Thikazi, Kammies, Mcaba, Mojela, ACupido, Van Wyk, Rhodes
Get the latest soccer news and be ahead of the game. Follow our WhatsApp Channel via this link.