FOOTBALL NEWS - Bafana Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter has heaped praise on his charges for a fine display, which led to South Africa defeating a stubborn Botswana 2-0 in a 2018 African Nations Championship qualifier.
The first leg fixture was played on Saturday, 15 July 2017 at the Francistown Stadium in Botswana.
The home side had more ball possession as they tried to take the game to the visitors but Baxter’s men were firm in the execution of their duties.
“It was a hard-fought game, even though I thought we had good control of the game for the 90 minutes. Botswana played well with the ball, and we knew that away from home we needed to take a result back to South Africa.
"Once we scored the goal it became a question of 'can they pick their way through us when we are organised or can we hit them when they are a little bit disorganised?' and, if I am being honest, we were closer to getting another goal than they were to reducing the deficit,” said Baxter.
“I was pleased with the way the players performed and I am also pleased that the younger ones got some experience, and they were outstanding too. I think Teboho Mokoena was very, very good. I thought that a couple of experienced ones, captain Mario Booysen and Cole Alexander, were very good too, and obviously delighted with the two-nil win away from home at a difficult place like Botswana.”
Ryan Moon scored the opening goal on his Bafana Bafana debut while Gift Motupa grabbed the second. Baxter says he has been impressed by the way his players were organised throughout the match.
