Lorche: I hurt feelings of 80K Egyptian fans to make S.Africa proud

CAIRO - 8 July 2019: South Africa and Orlando Pirates winger Thembinkosi Lorch has spoken about what it felt like to score the goal that put South Africa through to its first African Cup of Nations quarter final in 6 years.

South Africa, who went into Saturday's fixture against Egypt with only one win from threegames were clear underdogs. Despite that, they surprised the Pharaoh's with their undeniable press in the attacking third and were rewarded with a goal in the closing minutes of the game.

Lorche scored impressive 15 goals this season for his club, including ninein the ABSA premiership; he continued his good form and slotted in calmly past Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed el-Shennawy.

The Orlando Pirates winger who had not featured at all during the group stagesexpressed his surprise when he scored the goal to knock out Egypt. "When I scored I thought it was not a goal because of the silence in the stadium," Lorch Said.

He also added that he normally celebrates but it dawned on him what he had just done. "Normally when you score, people celebrate but it dawnedon me that I had hurt the feelings of more than 80,000 people. We had to make our fans back home proud and I am over the moon."

South Africa now look forward to a quarter final clash against Nigeria on Wednesday at the Cairo International Stadium. The last time the two teams faced was during the African Cup of Nations that the BafanaBafana hosted. The Super Eagles came out victorious though, thrashing the hosts 4-1.