Stuart Baxter tried to release his senior players who played in Saturday’s famous win over Nigeria for Tuesday’s friendly against Zambia in Moruleng, but they did not want to leave, the coach has said. Arriving at OR Tambo International Airport at 5am on Monday from their 2-0 Africa Cup of Nations victory in Uyo on Saturday, an exhausted Bafana boarded a bus for Rustenburg to begin preparing to meet Zambia at Moruleng Stadium. The friendly match in the off-season so soon after a tough qualifier against Nigeria, which involved almost 24 hours of travel to Uyo via Lagos, and 18 hours back, has resulted in grumbles from players. Baxter had said he planned to release perhaps even all of his starting XI who earned SA a first-ever competitive victory against the Super Eagles, and potentially make late calls to some young players. But the coach said on arrival back in SA, the players did not want to leave. "We’ve looked at the concept of releasing players, but no one wants to leave the squ...

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