SA BEAT THAILAND IN WC WARM-UP
South Africa opened their new World Cup stadium in Nelspruit with a morale-boosting 4-0 win over Thailand on Sunday, marking a successful start to the final stretch of preparation before next month’s start of the tournament.
It is the biggest winning margin registered by South Africa since they returned to international football in 1992 from decades of sporting isolation.
Katlego Mphela scored two goals in the space of three minutes in the first half after Siphiwe Tshabalala had given South Africa a 22nd minute lead from a curling free kick.
Mphela, competing to lead the South African attack at the World Cup, added the second with a touch in from a corner missed by the Thai goalkeeper on the half hour mark.
His third came after a defence-splitting pass from Teko Modise three minutes later.
The fourth goal came from Bernard Parker in the final minute after he ran through the Thai defence and put the ball under the body of the goalkeeper.
The win come after the return of the bulk of the South African side from training camps in Brazil and Germany over the last two months.
Thailand were the first of four opponents South Africa have lined up over the next three weeks, with games to come against Bulgaria and Colombia next week and Denmark on June 5.
The stadium, which will host for matches at the World Cup finals, is the second last of the 10 venues to open. The final venue, Soccer City in Johannesburg, opens its doors on Saturday the South African FA Cup final.
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