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Cape Town - Former South Africa midfielder Stanton Fredericks believes Shakes Mashaba shot himself in the foot by withdrawing Darren Keet for their last two matches at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Read: CAF bungle Bafana flight home
Keet was handed a start in Bafana Bafana's AFCON opener against Algeria, but was dropped for their next game against Senegal after a series of mistakes against the Desert Foxes, who came from behind to secure a 3-1 win.
Jackson Mabokgwane was then given his chance between the sticks against Senegal, a match which finished 1-1, while coach Mashaba then made a third goalkeeper change when bringing Brilliant Khuzwayo in for their final Group C clash against Ghana.
However, the Black Stars also managed to come from a goal down at Estadio de Mongomo on Tuesday night to beat Bafana 2-1 and secure their place in the quarter-finals, while Bafana were sent crashing out.
Defensive catastrophes were outlined in Bafana's three group matches, where the side had taken the lead in all of their games in Equatorial Guinea, only to allow the opposition back in on each occasion to eventually finish the tournament with just a single point.
However, Fredericks believes that had Mashaba stuck with Keet, things would have turned out differently.
"I don't think that it is wise for any coach to change a goalkeeper in all three game at such a prestige tournament," Fredericks told Football411.
"I think Darren Keet is our best goalkeeper and that's why he's playing in Europe, no disrespect to Jackson [Mabokgwane] and Brilliant [Khuzwayo].
"Having played with him [Keet] at [Bidvest] Wits, I know his qualities and what he's capable of, and I don't think he did too bad in the first game that he had to be dropped.
"The coach should have stuck with him and allowed him to recover from his errors because the reshuffling caused an imbalance within our defense and that is why we conceded so easily.
"The chopping and changing of goalkeeper cost us big time."
