Posted in News on Jun 08, 2005.
Kaizer Chiefs winger Arthur Zwane retains his place in the squad after impressing the coach against Cape Verde last weekend.
“I brought Arthur in the squad because in that game I knew I was going to play with three strikers and I wanted one of them to be an out and out winger. Knowing it was a bad pitch, we were always going to play diagonal football which the sort of football when OJ put Delron in for the second goal.
“We were always going to put balls in behind their fullbacks to try and release our wide players quickly and we were always going to try and get a lot of crosses into the box. That’s why I needed a winger and when I looked around and thought Arthur has been improving and I thought he was the one who showed me he could get crosses in.
“What impressed me about the game was that Arthur Zwane, in a very poor pitch, did a lot of other things that I am sure he doesn’t like doing on a football field. He’s not a soldier. He’s more of an artist and I think where we want to go with our football is that we want to create a soldier/artist.
“In South Africa we have lots of artists and in England they have a lot of soldiers but there’s very few people around the world who have become soldier/artists. And that’s where I think the future of South African football can be. In that game Arthur buckled down and did his job. I am sure he didn’t enjoy it as much as he would have had he been given the ball on a flat surface with lots o space.
Striker Benni McCarthy was the obvious absentee through suspension while Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez, called up as cover for the Cape Verde game last weekend, was left out.
The England based duo of Quinton Fortune and Shaun Bartlett still have fitness question marks and as such the coach elected to put Siyabonga Nomvete and Sandile Ndlovu on standby should Bartlett’s injury become a hindrance.
"We’ll make a decision on Sunday whether we should pull one or both into the squad," said Baxter.
"Shaun got injured just before the end of the season and we could have possibly used him in Cape Verde but his injury could stand up to that game. I knew in advance that we were going to be playing with three strikers, two of them being wide strikers and I decided to let Shaun rest. We are quite optimistic that Shaun should be OK."
There are doubts about Fortune recovery process but the coach said he was hopeful the England-based midfielder would make it for the Ghana game.
"I tried to contact Quinton this morning (Wednesday) I know he’s got his hands full at the moment and I don’t want to be bugging him at this moment. And again we are optimistic because the Manchester United doctors told us that 14 days after he had the pin removed he should be fit to play," Baxter said.
SuperSport United defenders Ricardo Katza and Siboniso Gaxa seem to have made a lasting impressing on their debut and the coach has retained the pair. But the return of Carnell will intensify competition for the left-back position.
"That squad, I think, gives me just as many options as many options as I can get. In a interview with BBC Steven Appiah where he said the Ghana team sat and watched our game against Cape Verde. So what it tells me is that they saw the game and they know what to work out," said the Bafana coach. "This gives me the opportunity to play in three or four different ways and that’s for them to work out."
Baxter is well aware that victory against the Black Stars will take Bafana, who need six points from the remaining three matches, a step closer to Germany 2006. From the previous six encounters, Bafana only lost once to Ghana - in the 2006 qualifier played in Kumasi on June 20.
Memories of that match will still be fresh in the minds of players like Mbulelo Mabizela, Aaron Mokoena, Nasief Morris and Steven Pienaar. Benedict Vilakazi and Delron Buckley, who were on the bench on that day, will have a thing or two to prove on June 18.
South Africa lead their World Cup qualifying group by three points from Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Hans Vonk (Ajax Amsterdam, Holland) and Calvin Marlin (SuperSport United)
Defenders: Nasief Morris (Panathanaikos, Greece), Aaron Mokoena (Blackburn Rovers, England), Thabiso Rammile (Mamelodi Sundowns, RSA), Siboniso Gaxa SuperSport United, RSA), Mbulelo Mabizela (Valerenga, Norway), Lucky Lekhwathi (Orlando Pirates, RSA), Ricardo Katza (SuperSport United, RSA), Bradley Carnell (Karlsruher, Germany)
Midfielders: Steven Pienaar (Ajax Amsterdam, Holland), Sibusiso Zuma (FC Coppenhagen, Denmark), Delron Buckley (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Benedict Vilakazi (Orlando Pirates, RSA), Elrio van Heerden (FC Coppenhagen, Denmark), Benson Mhlongo (Wits University, RSA), Arthur Zwane (Kaizer Chiefs, RSA), Quinton Fortune (Manchester United, England)
Strikers: Shaun Bartlett (Charlton Athletic, England), Katlego Mphela (FC Starsbourg, France) and Lerato Chabangu (Mamelodi Sundowns, RSA).
