Hodgson advises Baxter to stay calm despite Bafana’s World Cup setbacks
JOHANNESBURG: There was no avoiding the elephant in the room at the FNB Stadium auditorium yesterday as Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter faced the press for the first time since the aftermath of his team’s shock back-toback defeats against Cape Verde, Fifa’s decision to order a replay of last year’s 2-1 win over Senegal and reports that there is a drinking culture in his squad.
Baxter said he had been advised by Roy Hodgson, the former England manager, to stay calm.
Bafana, who face Burkina Faso in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on 7 October, have the slimmest of chances to qualify for the tournament in Russia following the 2-0 loss to Cape Verde in Praia earlier this month and then 2-1 a few days later in Durban.
As if the backlash of those horrific results were not enough, Fifa announced that Bafana would have to replay Group D opponents Senegal again in November following evidence that the match had been manipulated by referee Joseph Lamptey, who has since been handed a lifetime ban.
That left Bafana bottom of the group, with one point from three games.
And to dig the knife in a little deeper, a Sunday tabloid this week alleged that some Bafana players had gone on a drinking spree at the team hotel in Durban hours after their poor performance against the Blue Sharks.
The coach had also conceded that day, that South Africa might not make it to the World Cup.
“Roy sent me a text and said: ‘You and I have got a difficult challenge in front of us and when it’s like this, coaches have to live in a bubble. You have to take out all the things that are not important and you have to concentrate on the things that will keep you alive’,” said Baxter. “Looking at the games again and how we can move forward and the squad I have selected, yeah, we will have a go at that.”
Baxter made several changes to his squad, some forced by injury and suspension. But why did the coach not make a statement by omitting those who had been accused of treating themselves to a night about town and finishing it off at the team hotel? The tabloid had singled out midfielder Bongani Zungu as the “ring leader”.
“I will not hang my players out to dry,” Baxter explained.
Baxter then revealed that Fifa are reviewing defender Eric Mathoho’s red card in Praia.
“We have included him (Mathoho) in the team because the suspension is one game as per the rules, but Fifa are reviewing it on the 28th (of this month) because if it is violent conduct, he could still be suspended,” Baxter said.