Baxter warns Bafana not to linger on win over Nigeria
Cape Verde can be banana skin
Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter says the team’s impressive win against Nigeria two months ago will count for nothing when they meet Cape Verde tomorrow (8.30pm).
SA beat Nigeria 2-0 away in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, but Baxter has warned that that’s all in the past and Bafana shouldn’t get carried away.
“The Titanic sank a long time ago, [Adolf] Hitler [Germany’s former dictator] is dead and we all need to move on,” he said this week.
Bafana were full value for their win in Nigeria, because they fought hard to come away with maximum points. Baxter said the same attitude will ensure another victory on the road, this time in Cape Verde.
“We must make sure we do it all the correct way, so there is no looking in the mirror and saying what if and regretting.”
The 64-year-old contended that it is against less fancied opponents like Cape Verde that Bafana have battled to get results and therefore they have to be wary.
“To be very fair and to have a touch of humility about it, I think our national team has not been the best against teams that we were almost saying this will be an easier game,” he said.
“But our experience of football all over the world tells you there are no easy games and this will be a difficult game, especially if we don’t have the right attitude. So that’s the challenge laid down to the players.”
SA are ranked 13th in Africa and their opponents 30th.
Baxter, meanwhile, was set to meet with Orlando Pirates coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic, who was going to provide information on Cape Verde from his time as Ghana coach, but had to settle for a phone conversation. He’s confident he has enough information.