Baxter took charge after the 2004 African Nations Cup
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South Africa coach Stuart Baxter has said he is already looking ahead to the 2010 World Cup in an effort to give the country the best possible chance of succeeding on home soil.
South Africa won the bidding contest for the tournament in
Zurich on Saturday to become the first African country to host
the World Cup finals.
The coach said he would now be looking to bring through some of the country's younger players quicker.
"Winning the bid underpins the work I have to do to get the
team to the 2006 World Cup finals and now there is the extra
dimension of looking to blood young players a little more
quickly than before with the 2010 World Cup finals in mind,"
stated Baxter, who was in Zurich for the announcement of the finals bid confirmation.
"It would be a massive disappointment if we weren't able to
put together a team to get through to the quarter-finals of the
2010 with all the ingredients at South Africa's disposal."
British-born Baxter took over as South Africa coach last
month after Ephraim Mashaba was fired following the team's first
round exit at the African Nations Cup finals.
The former England under-19 coach has a contract up until
the next World Cup in Germany in 2006.
Qualifying campaign
South Africa, once comfortably ranked inside the top 20
teams in world football, have slipped down to 40 in the Fifa
rankings issued last week.
And several players abandoned the national side during Mashaba's
tenure, leaving a makeshift team.
Baxter has however been trying to coax players like Benni McCarthy,
of Champions League finalists FC Porto, and Manchester United's
Quinton Fortune to return to the team after they announced their
retirement from international football.
South Africa qualified for the last two World Cups but have
never got past the first round - on both occasions they changed
their coach within six months of the event.
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MMIX
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