Baxter set to use Champs to hone the young guns

STUART Baxter is looking to the Cosafa Castle Cup and next month’s African Nations Championship (Chan-2018) qualifiers to “build capacity” for future Bafana Bafana teams even if he has been forced to scratch around for players to be able to field a team.

“The important thing for me is that we have a strategy‚” he told the Dispatch yesterday.

“For too long the Cosafa and the Chan has come as an unwelcome guest that we’ve got no real use for.

“It doesn’t do us any use if we win it and it doesn’t hurt us much if we lose. The clubs especially have looked at it as just an imposition.”

Both tournaments fall outside the Fifa international calendar so clubs‚ who are just beginning their preseason training‚ are unwilling to release players‚ which Baxter says he fully understands.

South Africa have a pick-up selection for the Cosafa Castle Cup‚ where they are defending champions and join the tournament at the quarterfinal stage at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on

Sunday.

They then play home and away next month against Botswana in the Chan-2018 qualifiers‚ although likely with a different looking squad.

“When we approached it‚ I said to Safa we have to find something in there that serves us.

“And what we decided was that we would use the U20s who have just been to the World Cup [in South Korea] as a base‚ helping their development towards the next Olympics‚ plus pick up a few of the players who are of interest to the senior national team so that we can get a better look at them.”

Baxter said he was delighted‚ with that idea in mind‚ to have Lehlogonolo Maselesa in the squad.

“I haven’t seen him for a while‚ he’s playing now in Greece and it’s interesting to me to see how he has come on.

“We’ve done well to get him into the camp and if we can get a few more with the same kind of profile then that also serves a purpose.

“We also just don’t want to throw a young team to the lions‚ so we also got a couple of experienced campaigners.

“That’s how we picked up Mario Booysen‚ who is about to go back to Mamelodi Sundowns from SuperSport.”

Baxter said he had between 15-20 players in mind that the clubs refused to release.

“But I think we have found enough purpose that win‚ draw or lose‚ we will get something out of this tournament.”

The South African Football Ass at loggerheads with Premier Soccer League clubs last month over releasing players for the U20 World Cup‚ now look to have dropped their confrontational approach and taken a much more conciliatory tone.

On Monday they sent out a press release in which Baxter thanked clubs who had released him players. — TMG