BAFANA WIN BEST EVER FOR BAXTER
Near-perfect second half and taking the game to Nigeria pays dividends for coach
BAFANA Bafana’s first competitive win against Nigeria in Stuart Baxter’s first match as new coach ranks as his best internationally, he said. Baxter’s second tenure got off the best possible start with a 2-0 victory against the Super Eagles in Saturday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Uyo.
Tokelo Rantie put Bafana ahead in the 56th minute, substitute Percy Tau made it 2-0 in the 80th, and it could have been more with Themba Zwane hitting the upright twice.
“I said to the players in the dressing room after the game: ‘I’ve drawn 1-1 in Germany with Finland, when they equalised with the last kick of the game’,” Baxter said.
“I said: ‘I took a third-string South Africa to the (Concacaf Gold Cup) in the US, and beat Mexico. Those two had been the most satisfactory performances I’ve had at national level, until tonight’.
“That’s because it was in the backyard of a team we could never beat.
“I know how much that means to everybody back home.
“And, yes, it was not perfect in the first half, but it was near-perfect in the second. Nigeria couldn’t get near us.”
South Africa naturally struggled for full cohesiveness in the first half, but battled to the break goalless, with Zwane having hit the post for the first time after Nigeria goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi fumbled.
Baxter said keeping the crowd quiet, as had been planned, allowed SA to let the training they had done working in confined spaces, and for the counter-attack, to kick in.
“The first 20 minutes we were under the cosh and they opened us up,” he said.
“But I mean, look, four training sessions and we’re going to walk out from minute one and dominate Nigeria. No chance.
“I said to the players before: ‘Keep it very tight for the first 20 minutes. The crowd’s got to go quiet, and then every mistake Nigeria make gets followed by a groan instead of a massive cheer’.
“And then, if you think of Themba Zwane, every time he got the ball in the first half he had his back to goals.
“We were playing the ball straight at him and he had to turn, and gave the ball away a lot. He was average.
“In the second half, we played the ball into pockets. Then he was receiving on the half-turn and could see where the defender was.
“And when we did that, we ended up sawing our way through Nigeria so many times.”
The signs had been there that Bafana were confident of ending their 25-year drought against Nigeria in competitive games. Their only other win also came under Baxter, in a friendly at Ellis Park in 2004.
“I have to admit, I wasn’t so confident when I started the week,” Baxter said.
“I thought: ‘They’ve been training in France for three weeks and we’ve got four sessions, plus we’ve got a few injuries and Hlompo Kekana pulled out. This is going to be tough’,” Baxter said.
“But the more I did my research on Nigeria, the more I thought, ‘We can find some holes here’.
“And then in the very first session, the players were flying. And I thought, ‘We’ve definitely got a chance’.
“That’s why, when we arrived, we had to adapt our plans a bit [cancelling a training session on arrival in Uyo on Thursday to allow players to be fresh for the Friday session].
“Now I’m thinking maybe that was the best decision I made on the whole camp.”
With Libya beating Seychelles 5-1, Bafana are in second place in Group E on goal difference.