Katlego Mphela once again proved there is life after Benni McCarthy when he handed Bafana Bafana a 1-0 win over Denmark on Saturday.
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Clockwatch: How Bafana beat Denmark
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The striker, who admitted he is under pressure to find the back of the net after being transformed into the country's premier forward, collected a visionary pass from Reneilwe Letsholonyane in the 75th minute to put the game beyond the Danes.
The World Cup hosts were worthy winners as they bossed the encounter, controlling possession and spraying around passes.
Mphela should have been on the scoresheet in the 10th minute, when he calmly slotted a neat little chip through from Siphiwe Tshabalala past goalkeeper Stephan Andersen.
However, 'Killer' was wrongly flagged offside and chances were at a premium after that, with Teko Modise enjoying Bafana's best openings in the first 45 minutes.
The vice captain first headed wide despite being unmarked with 30 minutes on the clock and was then unlucky to see his expertly-hit shot four minutes later narrowly miss the target.
With half time approaching, Bafana nearly broke the deadlock as Steven Pienaar went up for a header and the ball skid off a Danish defender and landed at Mphela's feet. The striker managed to get a touch, but it came back off the post and he was then flagged offside.
In the second stanza, 'Yeye' went close with a wicked fizzer from outside the area.
The attacker turned provider in the 75th minute and Denmark tried to get back into the game after watching Mphela hand Bafana the advantage.
He outpowered his maker on the outsider and slammed the wonderful ball from Letsholonyane past Andersen to effectively tie up the game.
The Danes were twice thwarted by Itumeleng Khune late on, with Mikkel Beckmann failing to get the better of Bafana's first-choice stopper on both occasions.
The victory extended South Africa's unbeaten run to 12 games, meaning they have never lost during Carlos Alberto Parreira's second stint at the helm.
And they will want to continue that trend when the World Cup kicks off on June 11.
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