Amakhosi goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez collected his fourth international cap for Bafana Bafana on Wednesday evening as South Africa narrowly defeated Namibia by a goal to nil, at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek.

The only goal of the game came on the hour mark as Supersport United’s striker Katlego Mashego made the most of a mix up in the Namibian defence, and was able to guide the ball easily home from close range.

In what was really a dour performance by Bafana Bafana who gained their first victory against the Namibians in Windhoek at the third attempt, Fernandez stood out as one of South Africa’s best performers on the night as he made a number of crucial saves, which kept the Namibians at bay.

Rowen’s overall performance against Namibia has landed him a number of plaudits.

Amongst those who admired Rowen’s heroics against Namibia, is Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp who said of Rowen’s performance on Wednesday.

“I had confidence in Rowen, I knew that he could pull off a good display and he has done that, if the technical team does a good job with a player at club level then there are many spin offs for the national team.

Rowen’s performance demonstrates how good grounding at club level can help a player.

Our goalkeeping department should take a pat on the back for further developing him into a great goalkeeper not just at club level but for the national team as well”.

While The Amakhosi coach has heaped praise upon Rowen, he was rather surprised that three other Chiefs players who were called up for the Namibia game, saw very little or no action at all as Cyril Nzama and Siyabonga Nkosi entered the fray as second half substitutes.

“I felt that perhaps Siyabonga Nkosi and Cyril Nzama should have played a bit more, both of them have been in good form of late and perhaps Siyabonga could have made a bigger impact if he was on the field longer.

Anyway it is not really serious I think that even though they played for a short while - they fitted into the game easily and I am sure Gert will be in the national team again and his chance to get his international debut will come”.

Bafana Bafana arrived back in the country on Thursday afternoon with a number of the European based players boarding flights back to the countries where they play their club football.