Baxter: 'Players in form are not always international players'

Cape Town - Head coach Stuart Baxter on Tuesday explained his decision to overlook certain players when selecting his Bafana Bafana squad for the AFCON 2019 tournament.

Baxter announced a preliminary 28-man squad for the tournament set to take place in Egypt from June 21 to July 19.

The squad announcement caused a few raised eyebrows from the public with the non-selection of certain players who performed well during the 2018/2019 domestic campaign.

The 65-year-old explained that it's not an automatic guarantee that a player doing well domestically would flourish on the international stage.

"For you guys the media and for the public, players in form sometimes equates to an international debut," Baxter said. "But players in form are not always potentially international players.

"Maybe because of their age, or because of their skill-set, or their mentality so players in form are not always international players.

"Benzema didn't go to the World Cup with France for other reasons, so we've tried to put form and quality together when selecting our squad."

Bafana open their AFCON campaign when they take on the Ivory Coast in Cairo on June 25. 

BAFANA BAFANA AFCON SQUAD:

Goalkeepers

Darren Keet (Wits), Ronwen Williams (SuperSport United), Bruce Bvuma (Kaizer Chiefs)

Defenders

Daniel Cardoso (Kaizer Chiefs), Rivaldo Coetzee (Mamelodi Sundowns), Ramahlwe Mphahlele (Kaizer Chiefs), Thulani Hlatshwayo (Wits), Buhle Mkhwanazi (Wits), Sifiso Hlanti (Wits), Innocent Maela (Orlando Pirates), Thamsanqa Mkhize (Cape Town City)

Midfielders

Bongani Zungu (France, Amiens), Hlompho Kekana (Mamelodi Sundowns), Themba Zwane (Mamelodi Sundowns), Tiyani Mabunda (Mamelodi Sundowns), Dean Furman (SuperSport United), Kamohelo Mokotjo (England, Brentford), Thulani Serero (Netherlands, Vitesse FC), Thembinkosi Lorch (Orlando Pirates), Keagan Dolly (Montpellier, France), Fortune Makaringe (Maritzburg United), Ben Motshwari (Orlando Pirates)

Forwards

Lebo Mothiba (France, Strasbourg), Percy Tau (Belgium, Royal Union Saint), Lars Veldwijk (Netherlands, Sparta Rotterdam), Lebogang Maboe (Mamelodi Sundowns), Sibusiso Vilakazi (Mamelodi Sundowns), Kermit Erasmus (Cape Town City)

*Pending Passport - Nikolas Tavares (England, Crystal Palace) and Joel Untersee (Switzerland, FC Zurich)