Bafana Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter says they lacked an individual player who could make things happen in the World Cup qualifying loss against Senegal.

South Africa failed to qualify for the global spectacle after an inspirational performance by Liverpool star Sadio Mane saw the Lions of Teranga score two first-half goals through Diafra Sakho and an own-goal by Thamsanqa Mkhize.

Baxter said his side’s failure to earn their spot at next year’s World Cup came as a result of their back-to-back losses against Cape Verde.

‘It’s difficult for the team and difficult for the home country,’ he said in post-match comments.

‘We tried to get ourselves back into contention after those back-to-back losses to Cape Verde.

‘The performance in the first half, it was amazing that we went 2-0 down because I thought we were better than them.

‘We didn’t have one class act that could conjure up something out of nothing. We missed our chances.

‘The second half we still created more chances than they did. But it all means nothing, as we went down 2-0 and they go to Russia,’ he concluded.

The two sides clash on Tuesday in their return leg of the encounter in Senegal.

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