After Friday's 1-1 draw in Durban, South Africa and Panama will face off in a second successive international friendly on Tuesday - this time at Cape Town's DHL Stadium.
Yoel Bárcenas' 23rd minute strike was cancelled out by an Oswin Appollis equaliser within four minutes after the start of the second half. Appollis scooped the Man of the Match award after a superb all-round performance.
Appollis and Orlando Pirates teammate Tshepang Moremi did some superb work down the flanks, complemented by Mamelodi Sundowns fullback duo Khuliso Mudau and Aubrey Modiba.
However, Mudau was one of the players at fault for the Bárcenas strike at the other end, as his poor pass to Sphephelo Sithole led to the midfielder losing possession, while Moremi missed a chance to score in the 34th minute - one of several chances spurned by the hosts.
Essentially, South Africa picked up where they left off at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), where they exited after the round of 16 defeat to Cameroon - Hugo Broos' side continue to show that they are a team with tremendous potential, but they also repeated their tendency to be their own worst enemies at times.
Broos said after the game: "I think everybody can agree that we played a good game. We dominated Panama for 90 minutes and we only made two mistakes during the game.
"Their goal, we should have kicked that ball into the stands, but we wanted to do things in a nice way. I told the players during halftime that there is nothing wrong with kicking the ball into the stands when they are under pressure."
Tuesday offers an opportunity to put on a more composed performance in front of a sold-out stadium, which gave them tremendous support in their last visit to Cape Town: a 3-0 win over South Sudan in AFCON qualifying in November 2024.
Key details
Date: Tuesday, March 31 at 19:30 CAT (17:30 GMT)
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
How to watch: The match will be aired live on SABC
Team news
Hugo Broos took care to rest Minnesota United's Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Chicago Fire's Mbekezeli Mbokazi after their long flights, but the MLS duo will likely have enough time on the pitch to impress on Tuesday.
Mbokazi is usually a starter at centre-back, while Broos is likely to test his depth on the flanks - with Hlongwane probably set to feature out wide and also capable of playing upfront.
However, Broos suggested there will not be wholesale changes in typically blunt fashion. "No, there will not be a lot of changes, not at all and I know that the Sundowns players have an overloaded programme also the next few weeks but this is not my problem. I have to prepare for the World Cup," he quipped.
Expected lineups
South Africa
LB Samukele Kabini | CB Mbekezeli Mbokazi | CB Khulumani Ndamane | RB Khuliso Mudau
CM Thalente Mbatha | CM Teboho Mokoena
LW Oswin Appollis | AM Relebohile Mofokeng | RW Bongokuhle Hlongwane
ST Lyle Foster
Panama
LWB Éric Davis | CB Jiovany Ramos | CB José Cordoba | CB Martín Krug | RWB Amir Murillo
CM Carlos Harvey | CM Aníbal Godoy
LW César Yanis | ST Cecilio Waterman | RW Yoel Bárcenas
Stats
South Africa had 64% of the possession on Friday and 1.85 xG compared to Panama's 0.23, as per Flashscore.
Oswin Appollis has 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 games for Orlando Pirates and South Africa combined.
