Baxter went with three central defenders and used Thamsanqa Mkhize and Innocent Maela as wing backs. Libya dominated possession of the game, as Bafana hardly threatened in the first half. Goalkeeper Darren Keet kept the team in the game in the first half, thanks to quite a few saves.
It was in the second half where Bafana started getting forward a bit more and Percy Tau grabbed a brace to seal a great win for the side.
“We knew that we had to come here and play well. We had a game plan. [It was] Difficult to settle under the game plan because do you go flying in trying to get the winning goal or do you sit back? I went for a combination of both and the longer the game went the more I thought the players played well,” Baxter said after the game.
“I think the first 30 minutes it was with the crowd at their backs and a bit of nervs an anxiety from our part. We gave them a couple of balls that they should not really have got and they nearly got in. But I think after that the players were excellent.”
Baxter gave his players credit for showing character after Libya were awarded a penatly, which was converted by Ahmad Benali to make it 1-1 in the 66th minute.
“I thought the penalty was harsh and I thought the players showed incredible character to come back and get 2-1. We made a couple of substitions to help us in our defending.