Bafana Bafana will take on Africa Cup of Nations hosts Egypt with a spot in the quarter-finals up for grabs on Saturday evening, writes DEAN WORKMAN.
Baxter’s men started the tournament with a tight 1-0 loss against Ivory Coast where they created very little going forward and were punished when their opponents were clinical when handed a chance.
Bafana then bounced back to scrape past neighbours Namibia with a nervy 1-0 win. Yet, again they struggled to penetrate their opponents’ territory and create clear-cut chances and relied on set pieces as Bongani Zungu headed home the winner from a corner kick.
Bafana knew they only needed a draw heading into the final group game against Moroccco. The South Africans were seconds away from securing their progression with a draw, but a late goal handed them a 1-0 loss and Bafana had to wait on other results to determine their fate.
Bafana thus entered the knockout stages via the backdoor as a 1-0 win for Mali over Angola in the final Afcon clash on Monday had Bafana progress as the fourth-best third-placed team and so they booked a spot in the last 16 against north African giants Egypt.
The fixture list you’ve all been waiting for. 📊
Here’s how the tournament tree looks, with all round of 16 teams drawn.#TotalAFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/OYSqeYuPAm
— CAF (@CAF_Online) July 2, 2019
The Pharos, on the other hand, cruised through the group stages with three wins from three, beating Zimbabwe 1-0 before 2-0 wins over Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Despite the seven-time Afcon champions being overwhelming favourites for the clash, Baxter is looking forward to the challenge.
‘It’s a great challenge. It’s the one the whole squad is looking forward to,’ Baxter told the official Safa website.
‘We’ve got this opportunity now to play against the host nation in front of a load of people in a very, very hostile environment and that’s the time you want people to stand up and I think the group are looking forward to it.’
Baxter has also admitted that he won’t be looking to change too much heading into the game.
‘I don’t think I have to change anything, I think we have to strengthen some things – our attacking play has not been at its best, our defensive play has been for the most part, very good – but we’ve got to add on to that a functioning attacking game.
Training under radar. @BafanaBafana getting ready for Pharaohs on Saturday pic.twitter.com/6Gakdow7In
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) July 3, 2019
‘And against Egypt, I’m guessing they’re going to come at us, I’m guessing there’s going to be more space on offer [to attack] – so we believe that if we can up our attacking game by 15% then we’ll be able to give them problems.’
Bafana will be without Themba Zwane for the clash as he serves a suspension for picking up two yellow cards, but there are no injury concerns in their camp, while the Egyptians will have a full complement to select from.
South Africa and Egypt have met on 11 occasions, with Bafana winning on six occasions. The Pharos have won four times, while there has been one draw between the sides.
With all to play for in Cairo on Saturday, Bafana will need a mammoth performance if they are to overcome the hosts and book a spot in the quarter-finals.
