2019 AFCON Qualifier: South Africa names three foreign pros, 21 others for Nigeria
Three foreign professionals and 21 home-based players have been named by Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter to confront Nigeria in the make or mar 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier.
Also, reports monitored on South Africa-based Sports24 stated that Coach Baxter may be sacked as Bafana Bafana gaffer should the men’s national team fail to qualify for the 2019 AFCON tournament in Cameroon.
Sports24 reported that should Baxter fail to secure qualification, it would bring an end to a turbulent second spell in charge for the Englishman after just 17 matches.
The three foreign-based players named by Baxter include suspended Thulani Serero, who plies his trade in the Dutch league with Vitesse. Others are Percy Tau of Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion, who is on loan with Royal Union in Belgian league as well as Strasbourg of France goal merchant – Lebo Mothiba.
The 21 home-based players are led by Kaizer Chiefs’ goalkeeper – Itumeleng Khune.
Baxter described the selection of the 23 players that will confront the Eagles as a Herculean task. “It has really been a tough task to select the team to face Nigeria without some of our regular players, but we have to soldier on.
“These injuries could not have come at the worst of times when we really need to collect all three points because we are well aware the importance of doing this,” said Baxter.
“The positive side, however, is that this gives us a chance to introduce other players into the squad, and these are players we have been monitoring, so it not like a knee-jerk reaction.
“This helps us to ensure that when we qualify for the tournament we have an even bigger pool of players to choose from. I am also confident that the players brought in will do a good job.”
South Africa will welcome Nigeria to the FNB Stadium on Saturday, November 17 for a Group E clash.
Baxter’s lads convincingly handed Coach Rohr his first defeat as Eagles’ gaffer with a 2-0 win in the first-leg at the famous Godswill Akpabio Stadium in June 2017 courtesy of goals from Tokelo Rantie and Percy Tau.
After four rounds of (of six) matches played, the Super Eagles lead Group E with nine points, one ahead of South Africa, who have accumulated nine points from two wins and two draws.
Libya are in third place with 4 points, followed by the Seychelles on 1 point.
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The top two teams in the group will qualify to next year’s AFCON tournament to be held in Cameroon from June 7 to 30.