Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter says he is totally gutted after Bafana Bafana’s hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup were virtually dashed, following a 2-1 defeat against Cape Verde.

South Africa suffered back-to-back defeats against the Islanders, leaving them in last position in Group D – needing to once again rely on other results to go their way in order to qualify for the World Cup.

A stunning brace by Garry Rodrigues condemned Bafana to defeat at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Tuesday night, and Baxter spoke of his second-half introductions.

‘I picked the team who is going to deliver on the day, and you make the substitutions that you think are well-timed, but whether they’re the right substitution or not, that’s a matter of opinion,’ he said in post-match comments.

‘We go a goal down after a few minutes, which changes the mindset and the game. The instructions I gave at halftime then maybe are no relation because you need to chase the game,’ he added.

Baxter brought on Lebogang Manyama, Andile Jali and Percy Tau for Themba Zwane, Bradley Grobler and Hlompho Kekana respectively, with the changes coming for good effect.

‘So you need to get more attacking options on, which is why Lebo went first, with Andile and Percy on because we wanted to up our attacking options, but at the same time we were gambling big time and we knew it, and they were as close to getting the third goal as we were to getting that equaliser, but that’s a gamble we had to take.’

Baxter conceded that his side’s chances of booking a spot at Russia 2018 are very slim.

‘I’m totally gutted. What it means to me as a professional and someone who loves this country, I’m very, very disappointed.

‘We have to now rely on other results.

‘We don’t have it in our own hands. But still, we need to make sure that we do our work first. That’s what we tried to do tonight and that’s what we’ll try to do in the next two games,’ he added.

‘I know football is a funny game and things can turn up. A door may open. I can’t say I’m confident [we’ll qualify], if I’m a realist. We’ll try very hard to win the last two games and see what happens,’ he concluded.

Photo: Safa.net