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Cape Town - Stuart Baxter says Bafana Bafana gave their best against Paraguay in the Nelson Mandela Challenge on Tuesday night to secure a 1-1 draw.
READ: Baxter: We have to make sure that we are difficult to beat
Percy Tau netted stoppage-time equaliser at the Moses Mabhida Stadium after an opener from Federico Santander in the first-half.
The result was welcoming for the hosts after being pegged back by the South Americans for large parts of the game before finishing strongly.
It was Baxter’s charges second draw in week after holding Nigeria to the same result on Saturday in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
After selecting a young starting eleven against the South Americans, Baxter is aware that the players still have a lot to learn but is encourage by the spirit the players have shown in the past two games.
“For some of our younger players especially this was a learning curve and they needed to adapt quickly,” said Baxter in the post-match press conference as quoted by TimesLIVE website.
"I picked a lot of the young boys and if we had lost‚ I am sure you guys would have been at my throat‚ but the truth is they need to play against teams like this to learn‚” Baxter said.
“They went to school and the pleasing thing is they did it for 90 minutes and they kept going. We gave away an own goal against Nigeria and we kept going.
ALSO READ: Bafana, Paraguay share the spoils in Nelson Mandela Challenge clash
“We gave away a very poor goal against Paraguay‚ but we kept going and, in both games, we got back to 1-1. We need that sort of spirit.”
