S/Africa vs Nigeria: Baxter Plots To Stop Eagles’ Attack, Bolsters Defence

In a desperate bid to stop Nigeria’s pacey attacking line in Saturday’s crunch match in Johannesburg, South Africa Coach, Stuart Baxter has placed more emphasis on his team’s defence.

With South Africa yet to concede a goal in the qualifiers, Baxter is very determined to keep yet another clean sheet against Nigeria as he hopes to pick all three points and ensure they reach the finals in Cameroon next year.

With one intense training session on Monday, Bafana Bafana trained twice in blistering conditions on Tuesday and had a training match on Wednesday at Steyn City School.

In the last three training sessions, the team concentrated mostly on defensive set up, methodical build-ups, with greater emphasis on shooting at goal in which the players took turns to rain shots at goal.

As from Thursday, Bafana Bafana will move to FNB Stadium and will wrap up their preparations at the match venue on Friday.

Nigeria lead the Group with 9 points and South Africa is second with 8 and Saturday’s encounter will determine who qualifies first from the Group, with Libya visiting a buoyant Seychelles also on Saturday.

Victory for Nigeria on Saturday will mean South Africa must pick maximum points in their final game away to Libya next year, while a defeat for the Eagles will mean Nigeria must also win their final game against Seychelles next year.