South Africa enlivened their World Cup preparations with a 4-0 victory over an abject Thailand outfit on Sunday.
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The win, which was secured by Katlego Mphela's brace, Siphiwe Tshabalala's finely-struck free-kick and Bernard Parker's late goal, christened the Mbombela Stadium in memorable fashion in front of 30,000 yellow-and-green clad fans.
Carlos Alberto Parreira named a solid XI with Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Thanduyise Khuboni operating centrally in midfield. Mphela started up front with Surprise Moriri just behind while Teko Modise and Tshabalala took up positions on the respective flanks.
The latter combined to excellent effect with the energetic Letsholonyane as Bafana Bafana constructed a series of sweeping passing movements in the opening phase of the match
The opening goal came at the end of one such spell when Modise was fouled on the edge of the area. 'Shabba' stepped up and swept the set-piece through the wall and past Kawin Thamasatchanan to make the score 1-0 after 22 minutes.
Seven minutes later the Kaizer Chiefs star turned provider by placing a corner kick onto Mphela's waist at the far post. Although the ball seemed to strike the Mamelodi Sundowns striker on the arm, the goal was allowed to stand.
In the 32nd minute Parreira's charges conjured up a brilliant third goal with Tshabalala once again at the centre of the action. His one-two with Modise dissected the Thai defence and 'The Navigator' slid a delicious ball through the middle for Mphela who guided the ball past Thamasatchanan with his weaker left foot.
Four minutes after the interval Mphela dragged a shot just wide from a tight angle before substitute goalkeeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool made a sharp save to deny another effort from the striker.
A slew of changes then followed as Parreira experimented with some fringe members of the squad.
This did impact on Bafana's rhythm and on the hour-mark Itumeleng made a stunning save - diving full length to block Narongchai Vachiraban's effort from range.
With ten minutes left on the clock, substitute Nomvete thought he had scored goal number four with a neat tap-in from Parker's pass but inexplicably the linesman flagged for a non-existent offside.
It didn't matter though as Modise created another chance in the 89th minute that Parker slotted to add gloss to the scoreline.
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