Bafana Bafana, Stuart BaxterBackpagepix

Stuart Baxter: I will know when to step down as Bafana Bafana coach

Despite Stuart Baxter having successfully guided the South Africa national team to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, the head coach has refused to give assurances regarding his future.

Prior to the all-important final Group E clash against Libya, the 65-year-old’s head was on the chopping block and should Bafana Bafana had failed, the axe would have fallen.

However, Baxter masterminded a 2-1 win, which many believe allows him an opportunity to take Bafana to the continental showpiece, but the Englishman has hinted that his future is still uncertain.

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“The truth and reality of a coach [is that] a coach will do a job for as long as he feels he can,” Baxter was quoted as saying by Phakaaathi.

“People can’t tell me I can’t coach Bafana. I will know that myself, and that will be for different reasons, if it is my health, my motivation, or the fact that I don’t feel I am taking the team where I want it to go,” he added.

“There could be a million things. At that point I could resign,” he said.

“At that point, as well, other people could think ‘you are not doing that’ and sack you,” he retorted.

“That is where we were when we went to Tunisia,” Baxter admitted.

“I could have been sacked and could have said … this is not for me,” he continued.

“So that can work in a lot of ways, but I think this squad of players has shown that, despite all those possibilities – we could lose, we could get the adulation of winning 5-0 – they put all that aside and did a job,” Baxter praised.

“In that respect my ambitions for the future … should take a back seat,” he expressed.

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