ACCRA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Africa beat Ghana's U-23 team 1-0 in a friendly in Johannesburg on Tuesday ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which opens this weekend in Morocco.

South Africa, which will be participating in the 2025 AFCON, dominated proceedings in the first half, but the Black Galaxies defended well against the high press to leave the game scoreless at halftime.

Bafana Bafana midfielder Sipho Mbule broke the deadlock in the second half with a clinical strike, capitalizing on sustained home dominance to hand Hugo Broos' men the only goal of the encounter.

The encounter doubled as a testing ground for Ghana's domestic squad, sharpening their skills against elite opposition ahead of African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers. ■