Baxter gives his take on Bafana’s cup loss

And yet, as so often happens with Bafana, in the end it was the result that let them down, David Notoane’s side crashing out of the tournament on penalties at the hands of Botswana, exactly as they had a year earlier, with Stuart Baxter at the helm as Bafana were beaten by Madagascar.

The circumstances this time leaned more towards a sympathetic view. For starters, Bafana are clearly using this tournament as preparation for the Olympic Games, and in that sense, the results can take second place to testing out younger players.

After all, Bafana will still have a couple more games, potentially to test out their Olympic side, in the Cosafa Plate competition, starting today against Uganda.

On the other hand, there is a reasonable argument that any Bafana side should be able to beat Botswana, even their more senior outfit, and that this constitutes another embarrassment, whoever took the field for Notoane’s team. In particular, there was a worrying capitulation in the second half from Bafana, who were unable to close the game down after they had led 2-0 and appeared to be cruising at the break.

“I don’t like generalising too much,” said Baxter yesterday.

“We live in a country with a culture and a way things are done that of course affects the thinking of footballers. A Swedish player of logical thinking would have no problem killing a game, but would have problem being creative. We have a problem the other way round, we are good creatively, but being logical and playing negatively is not in our nature. It is something we can address as coaches, maybe the lads can do a bit better, they were tired, but with ten second to play and one corner to defend, it is a shame we could not deal with it and move on to the next round.

“Set plays are always an issue we have in this country, and we do have to deal with it,” added Baxter, in reference to the fact that both Botswana’s goals came from headers from set-pieces.

This is an interesting take, but one that Bafana’s provisional Africa Cup of Nations squad will also surely have to take into consideration as they get ready for Egypt 2019. In an ideal world, results are always accompanied by flair, but this is rarely a reality. Even Liverpool, so vivacious in attack all season, had to show their more pragmatic side in beating Tottenham Hotspur in the Uefa Champions League final on Saturday.

Bafana are likely to have to show off their more rugged side, if they are to progress to the knockout stages at the Afcon in a few weeks time, something no Bafana side has managed away from home soil since Carlos Queiroz’s Bafana did it in 2002.

It is a shame for South Africa, meanwhile, that they are likely to have to compete in Egypt without Keagan Dolly, a true stalwart of the national team for years, and one who has endured an absolutely horrendous time of late with injuries.

We have Baxter’s latest on Dolly on the page opposite, though it is likely he will have officially been ruled out of the squad by the time you read this.

Elsewhere in this week’s Phakaaathi, we speak to Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry, who explains how he has at least some knowledge of Bafana Bafana. And we have all the latest from Banyana Banyana, as they prepare to kick off their World Cup campaign this week. A 7-2 thumping by Norway was not exactly the best way to prepare, but hopefully they will be primed when the tournament kicks off this weekend.

Finally, don’t forget to enter the Phakaaathi Player of the Season competition on Page 7, with a fantastic prize up for grabs.

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