Why Baxter recalled Gould
Experienced Gould back after 4 years
Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter wasn’t going to try to fix what isn’t broken when he selected the squad to play Cape Verde Islands in back-toback 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers early next month.
SA are second in Group D with four points from two matches. They drew 1-1 with Burkina Faso away and beat Senegal 2-1 in Polokwane late last year.
Bafana will face Cape Verde away on September 1 at Estadio Nacional (8.30pm). The return leg is on September 5 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban (7pm).
In picking his team, Baxter confirmed that he wasn’t going to change much from the team that surprisingly beat Nigeria 2-0 away in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in June.
“I want to keep that vibe going in the squad and that’s why I don’t want to make more changes than I’m making now,” Baxter said from Safa House, where he announced the squad yesterday.
True to his word, the 64year-old kept the same players in the backline, except for Kaizer Chiefs defender Lorenzo Gordinho, who has been dropped for the experienced Morgan Gould of SuperSport United. Gould, who has 27 caps, last played for Bafana four years ago. In midfield, Cape Town City’s Aubrey Ngoma misses out due to injury and in comes Daylon Claasen, who’s with Wits.
There were also no major changes upfront with Sibusiso Vilakazi (Sundowns) and Thamsanqa Gabuza (Orlando Pirates) making way for SuperSport forward Bradley Grobler. “For the sake of continuity, this is, for me, the best squad,” Baxter said.
‘‘ For the sake of continuity, this is, for me, the best squad
Bafana defender Rivaldo Coetzee has secured a move to Scottish giants Celtic, his club Ajax Cape Town announced last night. The deal will be finalised subject to the defender, 20, passing a medical and securing a work permit. This move should automatically rule Coetzee out of Ajax’s trip to Maritzburg tomorrow.