Belligerent Bafana honour Clive Barker's memory with thunderous and deserved win against Morocco

At the FNB Stadium

Bafana Bafana honoured Clive Barker's memory with a thunderous and memorable 2-1 win against Morocco at a rapturous FNB Stadium on Saturday evening.

South Africa's football cathedral was Barker's playground, with his big moments in the 2-0 African Cup of Nations final win against Tunisia in 1996 and the 1-0 win against the Republic of Congo a year later that secured SA's place at the 1998 World Cup coming at the ground.

Goals from Percy Tau in the fifth minute and a 48th-minute goal from Zakhele Lepasa secured the win, even though Hakim Ziyech responded for the visitors on the hour mark.

Lepasa celebrated his goal by mimicking Barker's touchline aeroplane run after the late Phil Masinga's lone goal.

Lepasa's and Masinga's goals shared one thing in common: They secured a win for Bafana as the FNB Stadium, fully covered  and having seen the best and the worst of Bafana in recent years, felt like home for the national team once again.

Crowds have stayed away from Bafana games for a variety of reasons, but they've persisted in playing on the Highveld.

It paid off on Saturday as Bafana, despite a gulf in quality between them and the Atlas Lions, stayed in the moment, played what was in front of them and stayed in the game.

As academic as the game may have been, as both sides are qualified for next year's Afcon, there was nothing academic about how the sides went about the game.

They were ferocious, combative and tactically astute, but Bafana wanted it more and deserved it.

Bafana took a deserved lead in the fifth minute when Moroccan keeper El-Kajoui fumbled Tau's cross, with the ball bobbling into the net.

In the lead-up to the goal, Tau had forced a corner, from where the experienced Moroccan keeper simply took