Bafana Bafana head coach, Stuart Baxter thinks that his current COSAFA Cup squad needs more time together to gel.
The national team was eliminated in the quarter-final of the COSAFA Cup, after suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Madagascar.
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Speaking to the South African Football Association’s official website, Baxter revealed that his young side needs more time together, after failing to a side who have already played three games in the COSAFA Cup tournament.
“I am not talking about this as an excuse, Madagascar got to play three games but they also have fatigue – so you have the experience but you also get fatigue. Would I choose the experience or the fatigue, it doesn’t really matter,” Baxter said.
“This young group needs more time together, they certainly do. The unsuitability is a very difficult one for us because it comes at a time when the season has just finished and teams are tired and they don’t have to release their players, and we have to come up with a strategy.
“It’s an age-old problem for us but that’s why we chose the younger players, invest time in the ones that you believe can be down further the road as full internationals. When we went to the Four Nations in Zambia it worked very well for us, but we lost a penalty shootout, so it’s a question of six of one or half a dozen. I don’t think the format of us going in earlier is better than we have now. But it is a difficult tournament for us, it certainly is,” he added.
