Tactically, Libyans had the measure of Baxter’s men

Iwas surprised at the level of the Libyan team in their Africa Cup of Nations meeting with Bafana Bafana on Saturday. This was a very different Libyan team, their coach was very passionate, and you can understand too that Libya’s cause is not just about football, it is about the country itself, and how much they need the power of sport as a force for change. It can give them hope.

This was a very spirited performance, but they didn’t only play with their hearts, they played with their minds too.

If this was a boxing match, South Africa were up against Floyd Mayweather. The minute you attacked them, they attacked you right back. They were compact and as soon as they retrieved the ball, they caught us on the counter.

I think Bafana’s plan to attack was spot on, we showed we were the home team and tried to penetrate them, but we found ourselves with too few bodies in the box. We got some joy down the right with Mphahlele early in the game, but Libya noticed a weak point there, and exploited the space behind him. Vincent Pule didn’t form a defensive partnership with Mphahlele, and maybe we needed more cover from central midfield. The moment Sifiso Hlanti started venturing forward on the other side we became very dangerous.

I also thought in the first half that Sibusiso Vilakazi and Kamohelo Mokotjo were not effective enough in giving us added numbers going forward. Dean Furman couldn’t do it all on his own. The change Stuart Baxter made at half-time was possibly, in hindsight, how we should have started, with Bradley Grobler as a target and pushing Vilakazi forward into the No 10 role.

We were trying to play diagonal balls, from Keagan Dolly and Percy Tau, and it got us through once or twice, but we didn’t try anything different.

Overall, I think Pule had an outstanding debut, noting that he had no international experience. Maybe he should have been on the field longer, and the coach could have sacrificed Mokotjo or Vilakazi.

I do think Bafana put up a brilliant performance, even if the result didn’t go the way we expected. Unfortunately we were firing blanks. We lacked the extra quality, that special bit of creativity in the final third. Dolly and Pule were a bit too far from the impact area, they would beat their man and still have two or three more players to go past.

I hate drawing comparisons, but the Bafana of my era were able to unlock teams even when they sat back. Bafana needed a Plan B, we were just trying to play diagonals, but they were clever and dropped off, not giving us space. We didn’t now how to react.

Grobler also needed more bodies around him. They were bound to hit us on the counter, and we were just fortunate to have Itumeleng Khune at his best on the day. ON THE BALL WITH STIGA