Late show not Rantie’s fault

Airline booking staff put him on a flight for Wednesday

Tokelo Rantie’s late arrival for Bafana Bafana camp for tonight’s match against Cape Verde was not his fault.

The forward, who plays for Turkish side Genclerbirligi, was supposed to join the national team on Tuesday.

Bafana coach Stuart Baxter appeared to be irked by the situation as he considers the forward to be a vital part of his plan for the 2018 World Cup qualifier at Praia’s Estadio Nacional (8.30pm SA time).

Rantie arrived on Wednesday night and had a long conversation with Baxter to explain what happened.

“I had a long talk with him and what I wanted to establish was [if] that was the mistake on his side, and was that a question of his attitude,” Baxter related.

“After talking to him, it looks like the Turk- ish airline made a huge mistake. He was at the gate at four o’clock in the morning, checked in ... but was told he was booked in a flight tomorrow [Wednesday].

“But he had a boarding pass to be on that [Tuesday] flight, but they sent him back and he went back home. What I have established anyway is that it wasn’t Tokelo’s fault.

“The bad news is that he arrived with a bit of flu symptoms. I said to him ‘given how you are now can you play, he said 100%’. So he wants to play.

The former Orlando Pirates striker played a pivotal role when Bafana downed Nigeria 2-0 in June with a goal and an assist.

As for the rest of the team, Baxter expects them to work as a unit and quickly close down the hosts whenever Bafana lose the ball. “I think they have some good players and they will have a go at us. When we lose the ball, we should be quick to get in their faces and make sure they know that we are not just sitting and waiting,” Baxter added.

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