Baxter gives fringe stars their chance
Four-nations side a mix of youth and experience
Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter believes he has the right mixture of experience and youth in his latest squad.
The senior national team coach will use the four-nation tournament in Zambia from March 18-27 to give some young players a run in national team colours, but he has also retained a lot of the regulars.
Bafana will assemble for camp on Sunday and will depart for Zambia two days later. For at least 10 of the players, it will either be the first time they are part of the team or they’ve been there, but only a couple of times.
It’s these players that Baxter will hope can rise to occasion.
“We looked at this tournament, with this Fifa window, as an opportunity to try to refresh [the squad] and take a big first step in making some changes,” Baxter said from Safa House in Johannesburg, where he announced his squad yesterday.
“This is the only real senior event before we take on the Africa Cup of Nations challenge again [later in the year].”
Bafana will take on Angola on March 22 at Levy Mwanawasa stadium in Ndola in their first match (3pm).
The tournament is a knockout event and Baxter will be looking to ensure he has the right personnel to help the nation reach the final.
“The squad, for me, is one of possibilities, it’s one of empowerment and it’s giving some of the younger players a chance. I think we’ve got enough experience not to throw them in the deep end.
“So we hope we have enough experience there to mix two teams [of experienced and young players] and still be competitive,” he added.