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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African coach Stuart Baxter resigned Friday, saying it was time to move on to a new qualifying round for the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup .
FILE PHOTO: Football Football – Africa Cup of Nations 2019 – Quarter-Finals – Nigeria v South Africa – Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt – July 10, 2019 South African coach Stuart Baxter before the match REUTERS / Sumaya Hisham / File Photo
His decision comes just weeks after South Africa qualified for the quarter-finals of the Nations Cup in Egypt.
It was the second time that South Africa was running the Englishman, who will be 66 years later this month.
He was named for the first time in 2004 with an eye on the 2010 World Cup that the country was to host. However, after clinching a solid position in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and failed in Germany, Baxter left the position.
"I spent a lot of time thinking about Afcon," he said at a press conference. "For Afcon, this team had not lost in a year, which was not easy considering the fact that we introduced new players.
"I feel like it's time to take over and I decided to resign from my position. That's my personal decision.
"I chose not to point fingers and I will abstain. Choosing not to respond to misleading media coverage is also difficult to do. "
After leaving South Africa for the first time, Baxter became coach of Finland. He returned to South Africa to win two league titles with the popular club Kaizer Chiefs of Soweto, before taking the national team position for the second time in 2017, again missing the World Cup qualifier after s to be well placed.
However, he led the team to the Nations Cup in Egypt, where they managed to qualify for the round of 16 although they lost two of their first three matches in the first round. South Africa defeated Egypt 1-0 but lost after a last-minute goalkeeper error against Nigeria in the quarter-finals.
Baxter won 14 of his 30 games in his second stint, making six draws and 10 losers.
In total, his record with South Africa was 23 wins, 13 draws and 16 defeats in 52 games.
Baxter is now the ninth coach to leave his post after the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations last month.
He follows Clarence Seedorf (Cameroon), Javier Aguirre (Egypt), Paul Put (Guinea), Hervé Renard (Morocco), Ricardo Mannetti (Namibia), Emanuel Amunike (Tanzania), Sébastien Desabre (Uganda) and Sunday Chidzambwa from Zimbabwe in the United States. two cases. leave, reach the end of their contracts or be fired.
Report by Nick Said and Mark Gleeson; Edited by Christian Radnedge
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