It may have been a turbulent start to their camp but Bafana Bafana are still targeting nothing less than three points against Libya in their crucial Afcon qualifier, writes DEAN WORKMAN.
Stuart Baxter’s team opened their African Cup of Nations qualification campaign with a 2-0 away victory over West African powerhouse Nigeria. Bafana were brilliant on the day with goals from Tokelo Rantie and Percy Tau firing them to a historic win.
That game, however, was in June last year and since then a very different looking South African national side struggled in Cosafa Cup, where they only managed to win the plate section.
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Now Bafana will face off against the Group E leaders Libya, who opened their qualification bid with a 5-1 victory over the Seychelles.
Speaking in the build-up, Baxter said ‘I know a lot about them [Libya]. I’ve studied three of their games. The only thing that probably is a question mark is that they have a new coach.
‘We will have a backup plan. And I think that the Libyans‚ because of their situation [in their war-torn country] are together probably more than most national teams.
‘So, I’ll guess that they’re going to be better organised than most national teams. Do they have the extreme talent of Sadio Mane and people like that? I don’t think so‚ but they are good players.
‘And the games that I’ve seen, they’ve given every team a tough time‚ including Morocco. So, it will be a tough game.’
The North African side have built a reputation of being difficult to break down in recent years. They have featured in 19 international matches in all competitions since the start of 2017 and while they have five wins along with as many losses, it’s their haul of nine draws that really stands out.
Given that the war-torn nation cannot play at home due to security reasons the fact that they have been so difficult to beat while only playing on the road proves their toughness.
In this time, Libya also picked up impressive victories over Algeria, while also picking up a draw against the same opposition and against Tunisia.
READ: Baxter bemoans last-minute Bafana injuries
Despite this tough reputation, Libyan coach Adel Amrouche heaped praise on South African footballers in the build-up to the encounter.
‘I know Bafana Bafana very well.
‘Each coach who has been in charge of SA has come with his own philosophy.
‘But the quality of the players remains the same.
‘With South African players, who are always getting creative football and I think for me, in terms of African football, they have the best quality of individual players,’ Amrouche concluded.
After naming a strong squad for the camp prior to Saturday night’s clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Baxter would have been keen to build on the win over Nigeria.
The former Kaizer Chiefs coach was then hit with an injury crisis.
First Bongani Zungu was ruled out after he suffered a serious injury while playing for French club Amiens. Then Mamelodi Sundowns pair Themba Zwane and Hlompho Kekana were ruled out by the Bafana doctors upon arrival at the camp.
More bad news was to come for Baxter as Lebo Mothiba’s new club, Strasbourg, revealed he had a hamstring tear and would not be available either.
The Bafana coach has since called up Vincent Pule, Aubrey Modiba, Tiyani Mabunda and Mxolisi Macuphu as replacements but the loss of so many important players will surely have had an impact.
South Africa and Libya will do battle for the very first time at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday afternoon with kick off at 3pm.
