The South Africa Football Association (SAFA) will in the coming days unveil Stuart Baxter as their new coach ahead of their AFCON 2019 Qualifiers against Nigeria in Uyo.
Baxter holds the record of the only coach who have guided South Africa to victory over Nigeria, and he will be eyeing same when his team travel to Uyo on the 10th of June.
The coach will be in charge of South Africa for the game against Nigeria while still in charge of Premier Soccer League side Supersports United, but reports has it that he will quit the club full time at the end of the season.
In 2015, the coach told Africanfootball.com, how he masterminded South Africa to their first and only win over Nigeria in 2004, when his team defeated Nigeria 2-1 in a friendly game.
On 17 November 2004, Baxter’s Bafana Bafana beat the Super Eagles 2-1 with goals by Shaun Bartlett and Benedict Vilakazi in a friendly international.
“We (South Africa) shouldn’t feel inferior to Nigeria. It’s no help looking at their players and seeing which clubs they play for. That is only on paper.
“Before our game in 2004, they were all talking about beating South Africa 4-0 ahead of our game, but we forgot about that and just played our game.
“What South Africa needs to be doing, is not to get worried about past statistics and history. The current players can create their own future and mentally they should just get ready to focus on the job.
“In 2004 it was the same. We wanted to perfect the way we played at that time and when we won the ball, we wanted to get at them quickly and attack.”
Ade Emmanuel
