International Football
South Africa’s Coach, Baxter, Faces Dilemma over Captain
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
South Africa’s new manager is apparently facing a dilemma as he prepares a team to face the Super Eagles side that had always gotten a better result in previous encounters. Apart from not getting to meet his selected side until June 3, – seven days to the match with Nigeria, he is yet to name a skipper for the side.
Also, he still juggling between two jobs as his current contract with SuperSport United runs till June 24. He had to skip the club’s trip to Gabon for a continental assignment so as to concentrate on selecting a side to face Nigeria.
Sports Village Square gathered from reports emanating from South Africa that fans are still unsure of who will be donning the captain’s armband in Uyo, with Baxter having several options available to him.
The South African Football Association website however quoted the coach as saying he already had an idea of who will lead the Bafana Bafana.
He told the media South African media, “I know who the captain is, but I’m not giving it out today because I want the captain to hear it from me face to face and not read it one of the publications.”
Speculations are rife in the South African media that Itumeleng Khune, the goalkeeper of Kaizer Chiefs, is the most likely player to be given the skipper’s armband.
Some others claim he may give it to Dean Furman, the captain of SuperSport United, which he currently handles.
Sports Village Square gathered that other likely candidates include: Thulani Hlatshwayo and Hlompho Kekana – all who are skippers of their clubs.
Baxter is the only coach to have led a squad that first scored and defeated the Super Eagles 13 years ago.
He is quoted as being eager to see his side get off to a winning start and become the only coach of the South African national team to triumph over the Super Eagles twice.
He has named 25 players for the match with Nigeria. He picked only two from his club, Super Sport United which he will still handle till June 24.
There are six Europe-based players in the 25 man squad he has named for the Nigerian match.
He is reported to have recalled midfielder, Bongani Zungu, who is set to play in the Portuguese Cup final on Sunday for Vitoria Guimaraes, and striker Tokelo Rantie, who scored twice in Uyo in the 2-2 draw with Nigeria in November 2014.
“We have players who have been outstanding in the Premier Soccer League the whole season, and we also have continuity with a number of players that SAFA has invested much time in. I believe we have a good mix,” said Baxter, who is back as coach for a second time.
He added: “We have also looked at aerial strength and tried to spread that well throughout the team; it means if we can have good preparation before we go, then we have a squad that is capable of giving Nigeria a good game.”
Bafana Bafana Squad:
Goalkeepers: Darren Keet (Bidvest Wits), Itumeleng Khune (Kaizer Chiefs), Ronwen Williams (SuperSport United)
Defenders: Rivaldo Coetzee (Ajax Cape Town), Lorenzo Gordinho (Kaizer Chiefs), Sifiso Hlanti, Thulani Hlatshwayo (both Bidvest Wits), Tebego Langerman (Mamelodi Sundowns), Mulomowandau Mathoho (Kaizer Chiefs), Abubakar Mobara (Orlando Pirates), Ramahlwe Mphahlele (Kaizer Chiefs)
Midfielders: Keegan Dolly (Montpellier, France), Dean Furman (SuperSport United), Andile Jali (Oostende, Belgium), Hlompho Kekana (Mamelodi Sundowns), Kamohelo Mokotjo (Twente Enschede, Netherlands), Aubrey Ngoma (Cape Town City), Bongani Zungu (Vitoria Guimaraes, Portugal), Themba Zwane (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Forwards: Kermit Erasmus (Racing Lens, France), Thamsanqa Gabuza (Orlando Pirates), Lebogang Manyama (Cape Town City), Tokelo Rantie (Genclerbirligi, Turkey), Percy Tau, Sibusiso Vilakazi (both Mamelodi Sundowns).
A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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Nigeria’s Super Eagles were held to a 2-2 draw by FIFA World Cup-bound Jordan in an eventful international friendly in Antalya on Tuesday night, with the contest overshadowed by a late red card to Alex Iwobi.
Iwobi, making his 98th appearance for the national team, was sent off in the closing stages, capping a dramatic encounter in which Nigeria surrendered a first-half lead and finished the game with ten men.
The match, played at the Mardan Sports Complex, brought Nigeria’s March international window to a close, but it proved anything but routine as both sides delivered a fiercely contested and entertaining clash.
Jordan, ranked 64th in the world and enjoying strong recent form, struck first in the 17th minute through Mousa Tamari. A well-worked free-kick routine caught the Nigerian defence napping, allowing the forward to fire home the opener.
Nigeria responded quickly and thought they had equalised six minutes later when Raphael Onyedika finished from a Moses Simon cut-back, but the goal was controversially ruled out.
The Super Eagles eventually drew level in the 30th minute. Stand-in captain Moses Simon, earning his 97th cap, reacted fastest after Ademola Lookman’s effort was blocked, slotting home with a composed left-footed finish for his second goal in as many matches.
Nigeria went ahead four minutes before halftime when Bright Osayi-Samuel’s pinpoint cross found debutant Emmanuel Fernandez, who showed great composure to control and finish, giving the three-time African champions a 2-1 lead at the interval.
The second half took on a more physical tone, with goalkeeper Francis Uzoho forced off in the 57th minute after sustaining an injury while clearing the ball. Adebayo Adeleye replaced him between the posts.
Head coach Eric Chelle introduced Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi to shore up the midfield, but Jordan continued to press and were rewarded with an equaliser in the 77th minute.
Nigeria pushed for a winner late on, handing a senior debut to Philip Otele, while Samuel Chukwueze came on for Moses Simon. However, the closing moments were marred by Iwobi’s dismissal, leaving the Super Eagles to see out the match with ten men.
Despite the draw, the encounter offered valuable insights for the coaching crew as Nigeria continues preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
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