PITSO’S ON TOP, BUT SAYS...
Mosimane says Japan trip showed he has work to do at Downs
“I don’t want Bafana job”
MAMELODI Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane is going nowhere near the vacant Bafana Bafana coaching job.
Mosimane, who led Sundowns to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) Champions League championship last year, was crowned 2016 Caf coach of the year in Abuja on Thursday.
Speaking from the Nigerian capital on Friday, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) coach of the year shut down speculation that he was set to return to the senior national team fold.
The post opened when the SA Football Association (Safa) fired Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba in December.
But Mosimane made no bones about his lack of interest in the job when he told the Sunday Times: “I’m happy at Mamelodi Sundowns, I want to stay at Mamelodi Sundowns and Mamelodi Sundowns wants me to stay. No one has approached me from Safa.”
Mosimane is in the third month of a new four-year contract that will keep him at the Chloorkop side until 2020.
“I’m not thinking about that [the Bafana job]. I have a lot of work to do at Sundowns. I’m in the third month of my new fouryear contract.
“Our product [Sundowns] has won the treble of Champions League, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the Nedbank Cup. We lost in the final of the MTN8,” the 52-year-old said.
“This product needs to be improved to play at a global stage among the best top eight teams in the world. That’s what Japan [host of the World Club Cup in December] taught us. I have that mission to deal with before I can talk about anything else.”
South Africa’s first mentor to win the Caf coach of the year accolade said he hopes the award serves as a springboard of inspiration.
“When my name was called out, it felt like a dream come true, of being at the pinnacle.
“Personally, there is no award bigger than this on this continent. It says anybody from the townships in South Africa can at one stage of their life be crowned as the champion in any department of their choosing.
“My department is coaching football. I hope it [the award] inspires local coaches that come from Soweto, Kwa-Mashu, anywhere.
“We have examples of excellence, of people who are shining in their respective fields like Wayde van Niekerk [athletics] and Trevor Noah [entertainment industry].”
Sundowns scooped two more prizes. Top goalkeeper Dennis Onyango scooped the player of the year based in Africa, beating teammate Khama Billiat.
The Brazilians, as Downs are affectionately known, were also crowned African team of the year, making them a second South African club to bring home the accolade.
Kaizer Chiefs brought it home in 2001, the year Amakhosi won the African Cup Winners Cup, which was known then as the Mandela Cup.
Mosimane believes Downs’ hat-trick of accolades must have far-reaching implications for South African football.
“It means a lot. The message is clear: South African teams and coaches are ready to compete at international levels, we need to have confidence and always do proper preparations.
“By saying this, I’m just strengthening Dr [PSL chairman Irvin] Khoza’s talk that the PSL is ready to have two teams from South Africa in the semifinal or final of the Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup. We just have to change our mentality.”
Sundowns president Patrice Motsepe did not travel to Abuja but called Mosimane in the early hours of Friday morning to offer his congratulations.
“We finished around 2am with the interviews. The boss called [shortly] afterwards to congratulate me and the winners — Dennis and Khama — for being in the team of the year in the continent. He expressed how proud he was. He emphasised that we must remain humble and reminded us that the sky is the limit,” said Mosimane.
❛ I’m in the third month of my new four-year contract