South Africa head coach Stuart Baxter revealed that Gernot Rohr warned him of the poor state of the pitch at Seychelles ahead of the game with the Pirates in Victoria.
After whipping the East African side 6-0 at the FNB Stadium last Saturday, South Africa found it impossible to complete back to back victory, as both teams shared the points in the reverse fixture at the Stade Linité on Tuesday. The performance which draw a lot of criticisms from the local media.
Baxter, however, has defended his team showing and blamed the pitch for his team’s shock goalless draw with the Pirates to the poor turf in Victoria, stating Rohr had warned him of the pitch condition earlier.
”Immediately after the game, I was frustrated and angry with the way the game panned out,” Baxter told reporters.
”I met the Nigerian coach in London and he told me that the pitch was the worst he’d ever played on in a competitive game and I agree with him and that’s not an excuse because we still did enough to win the game.”
South Africa face Nigeria in Group E top of the table clash in November, with the Super Eagles needing to a point to seal qualifications to Africa’s biggest football festival in Cameroon billed for next year.
