Led by the likes of Emile Witbooi and Simphiwe Mhlondo, South Africa recorded a dramatic 4-3 win against Egypt in their opening Group B, U17 Africa Cup of Nations fixture at Stade Larbi Zaouli on Monday night.

Amajimbos commenced the game on the right foot and took the lead in the 1^st minute as  Simphiwe Mlondo capped off Emile Witbooi’s assist en-route to goal.

However, Egypt equalized just three minutes later as Anas Roshdi El Sayed Mohamed Emam added his name to the scoresheet. After incisive play down the right-hand side of the pitch, the attacker latched onto a well delivered cross with a powerful header at the far post.

The home side then took the lead in the 13^th minute after making the most of a line-out situation on their left-hand side of the pitch. With the ball bouncing inside the 18-yard-area, Roshdi surprised fans at Stade Larbi Zaouli with a spectacular overhead effort in the box.

Egypt increased their tally in the 18^th minute after Hamza Mohamed Abdel Karim beat South Africa’s offside trap before beating goalkeeper Keabetswe Morake to the ball, after which he placed the ball into the back of the net with ease.

Then, in two moments that turned the tie on its head yet again, South Africa levelled the scoring thanks to two penalty conversions by Neo Bohloko in the 25^th and 38^th minute respectively.

The pace of the match did not slow down after the restart as both teams actively searched for their 4^th goal of the night.

Witbooi’s trickery often left Egypt’s defence at sixes and sevens and rifled Amajimbos into the lead in the 70^th minute. After being played through on goal, Witbooi turned the ball onto his right foot before placing it into the top left corner of the net.

South Africa bossed proceedings leading up to the 80^th minute mark and looked comfortable on the ball after taking the lead.

Nevertheless, Amajimbos did well to preserve their goal advantage during the dying stages of the encounter and eventually bagged maximum points in their opening Group B assignment in Casablanca.

South Africa: (3) 4 (Mlondi 1’, Bohloko 27 (P)’, 38’ (p), Witbooi 70’)

Egypt: (3) 3 (Roshdi 4’, 13’, Karim 18’)

South Africa: Morake, Pama (Mswane 72’, Sekgoto 77’), Mokokosi, Mzimela, Bowes, Maraletse, Mlangeni, Witbooi, Mlondo, Stevens (Dlekedla 87’), Bohloko

Egypt: Aziz, El Shamy, Sherif, El Degawy, Farid, Ateya, Kamal (Shehata 78’), El Adawy, Roshdi (El Samahy 71’), Abdel Karim, Atta (Qotb 86’)