BAXTER RAINS PRAISE ON BAFANA But he already has his eyes on the next match as Bafana edge closer to qualification
STUART Baxter leaped to Percy Tau’s defence after the crowd at FNB Stadium were frustrated by his missed chances in Bafana Bafana’s 6-0 romp against Seychelles on Saturday.
Tau did eventually hit the target, putting his name on the score sheet alongside five of his teammates as they went top of Group E.
“I have to say, I don’t think there was any complacency from Percy,” said the coach after the match. “Maybe he got in and the one that he missed he was disappointed with himself and felt he’s got to make up the difference because we were talking about goal difference and things like that.”
Before Tau scored, fans were rolling their writs calling for Baxter to make a substitution. But the coach kept him on the pitch until after he’d got his goal.
He was also full of praise after the display and the record win margin.
“I just think that when South Africans play in a structured enough way, where they move the ball, can use their speed and their imagination in the right way, I think we have potential in this country. But we can’t sit and say we have potential just because we think we have. There were certain areas we hit, and if you think about the younger players we had on the pitch, they didn’t let anybody down. I was delighted with that as well,” said Baxter.
Meanwhile, it’s the way Bafana played, following instructions and producing a refined display to run riot against lowly Seychelles, rather than the record win margin that coach Baxter raved about.
Clinch
South Africa now need just four points from the remaining three games to clinch a spot at next year’s continental tournament in Cameroon. But Baxter wasn’t swept off his feet by the scoreline, insisting that he saw a team that was never in danger of giving Seychelles even the slimmest of chances to potentially cause an upset at Soccer City.
“It was a good win, and we can get carried away because of the six goals, but I think that would be taking a lot away from the performance of the players,” he said after the match.
“To start with, you are coming up against the underestimation factor, which has not been our strong suit. So we worked very hard this week to try and negate that. And then you score three goals in the first half – in poor weather, playing some very good football. We had to go out in the second half and put the foot to the floor again when it was easy at half-time for players to relax. I think the way the players played should be congratulated, maybe more than the fact that they’ve got six goals because they stuck to the game plan, the structure and so did the players that went on later.”
Asked about the chances missed, that would have perhaps even taken Bafana’s tally to double digits, Baxter was quick to point out that – as far as he was concerned – there was no point in dwelling on what they didn’t get right.
“I will not focus at all on the negatives. They will not see one mistake that was made today because I think their overall performance was good – I think we should show them a cavalcade of the good stuff and say we want more of that.”
Bafana flew out to Seychelles yesterday morning for Tuesday’s return leg, which – if they win again – would leave them needing a single point from the matches against Nigeria next month and Libya in March next year.