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Baxter to alter naming of team

Bafana Bafana star Percy Tau during a training session at Steyn City School in Fourways, Johannesburg, yesterday.
Bafana Bafana star Percy Tau during a training session at Steyn City School in Fourways, Johannesburg, yesterday.
Image: Lefty Shivambu/ Gallo Images

Safa's failure to secure a friendly for Bafana Bafana this week has further derailed coach Stuart Baxter's plans as the final squad will now only be announced on Sunday.

It was expected that Baxter would trim down his squad for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) today but the technical team now wants to further assess the players.

Bafana's shambolic preparations could see the team forced to play a match among themselves at the weekend.

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"We will have an internal game on Saturday if we do not get an opposition. If we get an opponent then everybody will play 45 minutes and then I will make my decision based on that," Baxter said yesterday at their training base at Steyn City School in Fourways. "We are trying to get someone to come over from the Cosafa tournament but it's looking to be forlorn."

Part of what has frustrated Baxter is that he wanted to have the camp earlier but the team only converged on Sunday.

"It's because we have chopped and changed our dates. That's for various reasons I don't want to get into," he said.

Next week the SA team are expected to move their programme overseas as they fly out to Dubai on Monday.

The team's only confirmed friendly is against Ghana in Dubai on June 15. They are also set to face Angola on the 19th prior to the tournament kick-off on June 21.

Baxter insisted the non-regular faces in the camp, including Ben Motshwari, Fortune Makaringe and Kermit Erasmus, are not automatic candidates for the chop. "The new ones have done well. It's not that they are way off the pace. A few of the experienced players are wondering who it will be. I want to give everybody a fair chance to put their hands up."

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