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Baxter lists Bafana's hat-trick of troubles

Cape Town - Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter says that he is determined to not let a lack of friendly matches and poor travel plans affect his players.

It appears the South African Football Association (SAFA) were unable to arrange an opponent to face Bafana while they were still preparing for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations inside the country.

The national team were then delayed in jetting out to Dubai to continue the preparations with a friendly against Ghana.

The third issue was when Angola pulled out of a second friendly in Egypt at the 11th hour citing a lack of match fitness.

Baxter said: "Look, it's obviously not ideal. When we were planning for our AFCON preparations we were meant to have three games in the build-up.

"Did I want us to have a game in South Africa before I left? Yes. Did I want our travel plans to be smoother? Definitely.

"Is it frustrating that the game against Angola was called off at the last minute? Of course.

"But my job now is to make sure that none of these issues passes on to the players, and I've got to make sure that we're in the best possible shape to have three good games in this group."

Bafana get their AFCON tournament started against the Ivory Coast on Monday, June 24 in Cairo before playing at the same venue on Friday, June 28 against Namibia.

They then round off their group stage matches with a clash against Morocco on Monday, July 1.

Bafana
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