Bafana Bafana progressed to the Cosafa Cup semi-finals after thrashing Lesotho 4-0 in their penultimate Group A clash at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Tuesday.
Ethan Brooks missed out through injury as Yusuf Maart was given the start while Njabulo Ngcobo and Victor Letsoalo got their first appearances at senior international level.
The changes certainly paid in the early exchanges as Sifiso Ngobeni’s cross from the left flank found Letsaolo, who sent a powerful header past Lesotho goalkeeper Jessy Matsie.
The lead was doubled in the 20th minute when Matsie was only able to parry Nyiko Mobbie’s powerful effort into the path of Sphelele Mkhulise, who knocked the ball into an empty goal from six-yards.
Likuena did see a bit more of the ball in the latter stages of the first half, but they did not do enough in the final third to trouble Veli Mothwa between the sticks, while Monnapule Saleng cracked the woodwork at the other from a set-piece. There was enough time for a third goal before the break, when Letsaolo profited from an error before showing great composure to lift the ball over Matsie.
The South Africans carried that momentum into the second half and found a fourth goal on 56 minutes when a deflected free-kick landed in the path of Dube, who did well to set up Letsaolo for his hat-trick.
South Africa rang the changes soon after as Ayabulela Konqobe, Mashweu Mphahlele and Thabang Sibanyoni were introduced for the final 25 minutes of the encounter.
In the end, four goals were enough for South Africa to book their spot in the final four with a game to spare, which is against Zambia on Wednesday.