AFCON
South Africans Suggest Possible Captains to Coach Baxter
As the riddle on who should captain Coach Stuart Baxter’s selection continues ahead of the potential explosive clash with the Super Eagles on Saturday, South African coaches and media organizations are suggesting possible candidates to the coach who is making his ‘second missionary’ journey to the squad.
His predecessor, Ephraim Mashaba, reportedly operated rotational captaincy that saw different players wearing the captain’s band in matches.
Baxter announced a 25-man list about two weeks ago, but was silent on who will captain the team. He reportedly spoke with the coach of South African club side, Gavin Hunt of Bidvest Wits on possible team composition.
There are three Bidvest Wits players in the selection by Baxter. It is not clear whether he would pick any of the trio as skipper. They were part of South African league title winners. They are: Goalkeeper Darren Keet and defenders Thulani Hlatshwayo and Sifiso Hlanti.
Sports Village Square gathered from Sport24 of South Africa that Hunt has suggested one of his players, Thulani Hlatshwayo as a captain. The defender has reportedly captained South Africa on some occasions.
The publication quoting another medium, Sowetan Live, reported Hunt as saying:
“Well I think if you’re going to go into a new era, new dawn, new feel, and you want to build your team, I mean he (Hlatshwayo) is the perfect guy to build your team around”.
Other possible candidates as suggested by the media are:
Itumeleng Khune –
Khune is the captain of Kaizer Chiefs and has been the most regularly used South African captain over the past few years. He has experience playing in big games both domestically and internationally.
Thulani Hlatshwayo –
Arguably the most in-form defender in South Africa this season, and the man who will lift the Absa Premiership trophy for Bidvest Wits on Saturday. A warrior on the field and a player who has captained Bafana in the past, ‘Tyson’ is someone who will lead by example.
Dean Furman –
As captain of SuperSport United and a player who wears his heart on his sleeve. Furman is also a contender. He’s a fierce competitor in the middle of the park, with experience of having captained clubs in both South Africa and England, also donning the Bafana armband on numerous occasions.
Hlompho Kekana –
As captain of Mamelodi Sundowns. Kekana has proven himself time and again for both club and country, playing a leading role in helping Masandawana to two CAF trophies in the last few months. He’s a player with impeccable work ethic and highly respected by his teammates.
Ramahlwe Mphahlele –
‘Rama’ is no longer the captain of his club side since leaving Sundowns last year, however, he’s been one of the few standout performers for the Amakhosi this season. A proven professional who only appears in the news for the right reasons, Mphahlele could be an option for Baxter. Captained South Africa at youth level.
Andile Jali –
Jali was the last man to captain Bafana as he led them out against Angola in March and his reputation as being a blood and guts kind of midfielder may be the sort of thing Baxter is looking for. Lots of CAF experience with Orlando Pirates and currently playing in Europe.
Cote d’Ivoire head coach Emerse Fae has overhauled his backroom team following the Elephants’ Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023, success earlier this year.
Fae, who took over from Frenchman Jean-Louis Gasset during the tournament in January, has brought in three new faces as he builds towards qualifying for the 2025 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations and 2026 World Cup.
Former Cote d’Ivoire goalkeeper Gerard Gnahouan, 45, joins as goalkeeping coach after working in this role with French Ligue 2 side Sochaux.
Gnahouan, capped 10 times by the Elephants between 2002 and 2011, takes over as goalkeeping coach and will be tasked with getting the best out of first-choice Yahia Fofana.
Moroccan Samir Anba, previously with French club Nice and Morocco’s Under-17s, takes over as fitness coach, while Jeremy Antonio arrives as video analyst after working with Fae at French side Clermont.
“This new composition of the technical staff marks the start of a new era for the Cote d’Ivoire national team, and expectations are high,” said Fae.
Fae kept faith with assistant Guy Demel while former international Alain Gouamene joins as the second assistant coach of the AFCON-winning team.
The 40-year-old led an all-local setup to a surprise African title in March after being promoted from Gasset’s number two following their near exit at the group stage.
The new backroom additions have a huge challenge ahead, with Cote d’Ivoire facing crunch matches in June as they bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
The Elephants top their qualifying group after beating Gambia and Seychelles in the opening two matches in Group F of the qualifiers under caretaker Gasset.
-CAF
After commanding victories in the first leg matches of the Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025, qualifiers, Chad, Liberia, and Eswatini find themselves in advantageous positions as they gear up for the return fixtures scheduled for Tuesday.
As the second leg of the preliminary fixtures approach, all eyes will be on these teams as they vie for their coveted spots in the group phase of the qualifiers, with the hopes of making their mark on the continental stage.
Chad emerged victorious with a narrow 1-0 win over Mauritius, joining Liberia and Eswatini in the lead after their impressive triumphs earlier last week.
Liberia secured a 2-0 victory against Djibouti, while Eswatini displayed their dominance with a 3-0 win over Somalia.
The second leg promises to be fiercely contested, particularly for Chad, who will face a challenging encounter against Mauritius on the latter’s home turf.
Coach Kevin Nicaise’s players are keen to defend their slender lead and secure their spot in the next phase of the qualifiers but the trainer admits they have an arduous task.
“We are far from perfect, far from being a top team in the world. We are in the construction phase. There are still things to work on and improve,” coach Nicaise said after their first-leg win.
“It is not overnight that we will be a top team in the world, we are aware of that, however we are working hard with the group and the staff to achieve this goal.”
Meanwhile, Liberia will host Djibouti, aiming to build on their first-leg success and seal their progression to the next round.
Eswatini will host Somalia with confidence, seeking to maintain their winning momentum and secure passage to the next stage of the tournament.
South Sudan and Sao Tome and Principe will also face off in what is expected to be a closely contested encounter, following their goalless draw in the first leg.
With both teams eager for victory, the match promises to be a thrilling battle for supremacy.
-CAF
Liberia and Eswatini took commanding leads in their respective Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025, preliminary round ties after claiming impressive away victories on Wednesday.
Liberia captain Murphy Dorley scored one of two first-half goals as the Lone Stars defeated hosts Djibouti 2-0 in the opening leg in Marrakech.
Mohammed Sangare broke the deadlock from the penalty spot on 23 minutes before Dorley coolly slotted home Sebastian Teclar’s cross 12 minutes later.
Djibouti struggled to lay a glove on their more illustrious opponents as the Lone Star side kept them at bay to take two away goals into next week’s second leg in Monrovia.
Eswatini were also celebrating after demolishing Somalia 3-0 in the Moroccoan city of El Jadida to put one foot in the group stage qualifiers.
Striker Sabelo Ndzinisa was the hero, netting twice either side of Felicio Figuareido’s 40th minute opener for the visitors.
Somalia now face an uphill battle to qualify when they travel to the Mbombela Stadium in the South African city of Nelspruit for the return on March 26th.
The opening leg victories give Liberia and Eswatini a huge advantage heading into the second legs as they target a place in the group stage on the road to next year’s finals in Morocco.
Back from the locker room, Somalia still couldn’t play its game.
Worse, Eswatini widened the gap with Ginindza who scored his double of the evening in the 56th minute. 3-0, the score remained unchanged on the scoreboard until the final whistle.
Victory for Eswatini which will still have to perform in the return leg to ensure its qualification for the qualifiers.
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