BAFANA Bafana coach Stuart Baxter is concerned that the long wait until their do-or-die Africa Cup of Nations qualifier could have a negative impact on his players.
South Africa wasted a great chance to secure their place in next year’s Afcon tournament in Cameroon when they drew 1-1 with Nigeria at FNB Stadium on Saturday. Bafana recovered from an early own goal by Buhle Mkhwanazi to force a draw after Man of the Match Percy Tau set up Lebo Mothibi for the equaliser.
This means Bafana must beat Libya at all costs in their last Group E fixture away in March 2019 if they are to be among the 24 countries that will compete in the continental showpiece.
If Libya win the game they qualify, as they trail Bafana by two points, having collected seven points from five games. Group leaders Nigeria have already qualified with 10 points. Minnows Seychelles are bottom of the pile with one point.
“I just hope the long wait will not affect us negatively,” said Baxter about their chances of fighting for the remaining qualifying spot in Group E.
He added: “On one hand I’m very proud and on the other I’m frustrated. We could have been more true to ourselves and kept on playing when they were tiring, we needed to get behind them. The players needed to go for it after the equaliser. But I’m proud to have taken four points off Nigeria – on paper they’re big hitters and we ran them close.”
Bafana now will shift their focus to the Nelson Mandela Challenge centenary match against Paraguay at Moses Mabhida Stadium, in Durban tomorrow (7pm).
Baxter vowed that his side would not take their eye off the ball.
He said: “Do we think we’re going to win the game against Libya? I don’t think there should be any reason to doubt that. We are fully focused on the big prize.”
Baxter said there was a lot of mental issues in South African football in the past, which held the team back.
He said: “A lot of issues have been mental – do we believe in ourselves, do we have confidence . . . If we can believe in ourselves we can beat anyone.”
The Bafana coach warned that his team would have to go to Libya not to park the bus but to play their normal game.
“We must be careful with our approach, we must be ourselves and play to win, not for a draw. The 2019 date gives us time to check the fitness of the players and to get a few players back from injury.”