How Bax helped Katza on debut in Cape Verde
Coach out to repeat magic 12 years on
The last time South Africa were in Cape Verde for a World Cup qualifier was 12 years ago when Bafana Bafana claimed a 2-1 victory in Praia in the international debut for former SuperSport United stalwart Ricardo Katza.
The retired defender said the conditions might be tough in west Africa‚ but the Class of 2017 must put all negative thoughts out of their minds and concentrate solely on the job of bringing home three vital World Cup qualification points in their second visit tomorrow.
Stuart Baxter was also the national team coach on the country’s first visit to Cape Verde‚ giving Katza his break in international football in what was a demanding environment.
The ex-Matsatsantsa star revealed that it was the meticulous planning of Baxter that saw them win the day.
“It was my debut‚ so I didn’t know what it was like to play in the national team before that day‚” Katza said.
“I especially didn’t think that I would start‚ but I had been in good form for my club. I had been playing centre back at SuperSport‚ but Stuart put me at left back against Cape Verde‚ so there was an adjustment needed.
“But the good thing about Stuart is that he is very clear in what he wants you to do and how he wants you to do it. He makes it easy for players to understand and so everybody knew their roles perfectly.”
The 6 000 crowd may have provided little in the way of intimidation‚ but Katza said adapting to the quality of the players he was up against was a challenge.
“I really struggled in the first half and I knew it as I went into the dressingroom at half time. I was playing against their best player‚ a left-footed winger who was on the right wing.
“But Stuart didn’t panic‚ he said to me‚ ‘just do what I asked you to do and remember what we showed you about him’. I just focused on that and had a much better second half.” –