Baxter chuffed to spend week with Bafana youths
Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter believes the full week he has to work with his “promising young group” of players at the Cosafa Cup in Polokwane will give them a fighting chance.
Holders Zimbabwe have named a full-strength squad for the 2018 Cosafa Cup, with coach Sunday Chidzambwa going all out to defend the record fifth title won by the Warriors in Rustenburg in 2017, though that might depend on how many of their stars arrive for the tournament.
In contrast, Bafana have a young squad and emerging squad for the tournament where coaches tend to battle to have players released by clubs in the South African off-season.
Baxter held his third training session on Tuesday and said the squad “is an interesting and ambitious group”.
“And I hope the rest of the camp continues the way it’s been until now. Because they’ve been very diligent in their work, they’ve been on time for everything,” he said.
Among the players with near or medium-term Bafana prospects Baxter has been able to bring to Polokwane are defenders Innocent Maela (Orlando Pirates), Siyanda Xulu (Maritzburg United) and Maritzburg midfielders Lebohang Maboe and Siphesihle Ndlovu.
Braga’s Luther Singh, Pirates teenager Lyle Foster, Baroka FC’s Gift Motupa and Kaizer Chiefs’ Ryan Moon make for an exciting quartet of strikers.
Baxter will have had a week to turn the youngsters into a unit for their opening match in Sunday’s quarterfinal against the winners of Group A (Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles and Comoros) at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium.
“The pressure to get results is the same no matter what,” Baxter said. “Whenever the national team get together, if you fly to the ends of the earth and you’ve got two seconds to prepare, you’re expected to win.
“The week together gives us a bit of time. I don’t think I’ve had one week with a national team anywhere in the world. So this week is good.
“At the same time, this is a bad time for a South African national team to be selected. This is a clear strategic move to select a [youthful] squad like this and it’s something that suits SA.
“And I told the players they’re not here by default, they’re here by design this time. So getting this squad together, and getting those seven days, is a bit of a victory already.
“If they can kick on, and they need to gel a bit, I think it could be a really good Cosafa,” said the Bafana coach.
Zimbabwe arrive on Wednesday with a full-strength senior team. The Warriors have included Mamelodi Sundowns’ outgoing star Khama Billiat and new Anderlecht signing Knowledge Musona.
Bafana have won the Cosafa Cup four times.