Legendary South African coach Gordon Igesund believes that Stuart Baxter has selected the best team for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
The Bafana Bafana head coach made a couple of surprising omissions when he announced his final 23-man squad for the continental tournament last weekend.
Igesund, who was in charge of South Africa between 2012 and 2014, has explained that whenever a national team coach announces a squad it will always be scrutinised.
“Honestly speaking, whenever a coach selects a team, it always gets scrutinised,” Igesund told Daily Sun.
“As supporters, we say ‘why pick that one and not him’, but at the end of the day we must support the coach,” the former Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates coach continued.
Igesund guided Bafana to the quarter-finals where they lost to Mali on penalties in the 2013 Afcon tournament which was hosted by South Africa.
The accomplished coach also explained that English tactician has an idea of which players will play during this year’s competition.
“Based on players he works with during training sessions, he knows who in the group would start and what formation he’ll use during the tournament,” he added.
Igesund urged the country to support Bafana as they look to clinch their second Afcon title since 1996.
“It’s difficult to say what’s going to happen and we can’t make assumptions. The best team has been selected. Let’s support them and see how they do in Cairo,” he concluded.
South Africa have been drawn into Group D at the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off on June 21 in Egypt.
Bafana will begin their Afcon campaign against Ivory Coast in Cairo, before meeting Namibia and Morocco as they look to reach the knockout stages.
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