CAPE TOWN – Table-topping South Africa will arrive in Seychelles on Monday with concerns about the artificial pitch for their return leg of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Group E qualifier on Tuesday afternoon.
Stuart Baxter's Bafana Bafana flew out on Sunday, a day after they scored a runaway 6-0 win over the East Indian Islanders. Despite the ease with which they won‚ Baxter has concerns about the artificial pitch at Stade Linite‚ the10 000-seater venue.
Before his departure on Sunday, Baxter said that he heard from Nigerian coach Gernot Rohr that the surface was not player-friendly. Nigeria played at the venue in September.
"He said their pitch is not the nicest to the player," said Baxter. “So it will certainly be a difficult game. We may need to tweak our tactical approach.
“But I think if we show the same passion to get on the ball and play and move them about‚ I think we can do that on any surface.
“So I’m optimistic‚ but knowing that it will be difficult and different.”
The boys have arrived in Seychelles pic.twitter.com/Dc4lwrBPH3
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) October 15, 2018
Bafana Bafana head Group E with seven points‚ one point ahead of Nigeria‚ who defeated visiting Libya 4-0 in Uyo on Saturday.
A pleasing aspect of Bafana Bafana's win was that there were five different names on the 6-0 scoresheet and that suggests several players found themselves in position to score rather than only the strikers.
What was not pleasing, however, was that of 33 shots at goal, only 16 was on target and only 6 of those found the back of the net.