I am not in a popularity contest, says Mosimane
PITSO Mosimane will not coach Bafana Bafana again any time soon because he believes he isn’t the good “boy” that the fans and the South African Football Association (Safa) want.
The Mamelodi Sundowns head coach was quick to rule himself out of the top job before Safa had even approached him because he didn’t want to be associated with the speculation.
But he had other reasons; from arguing that he is too much of a polarising figure to be fully supported, to saying that his skin colour counts against him.
“I need peace of mind,” Mosimane said, as he explained why he doesn’t want to return to Bafana.
“I never played for [Kaizer] Chiefs, okay I played for [Orlando] Pirates. But as a SuperSport United coach, I played against Chiefs and Pirates.
“I never shied away against those teams, and you know my record against them at SuperSport, never mind Sundowns against Chiefs and Pirates.
“There are more wins than draws or losses. You become a problem and they don’t like you,” said the 52-yearold from Kagiso on the West Rand.
“Now I am at Sundowns, still against those two teams. I am very unpopular with their supporters. I’m outspoken and I am not apologetic. The most number of people who support Bafana are their fans.
“I was watching the game against Angola [on Tuesday evening] in East London. I saw more Chiefs and Pirates jerseys than any other club. Sundowns jerseys weren’t that many. I am not the right one. I am not the liked one. So do I want to go there? No. I don’t have support when I am there.”
Matsatsantsa a Pitori have granted Safa the go-ahead to talk to coach Stuart Baxter in the association’s bid to replace Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba who was fired in December. If the two parties — Safa and SuperSport — reach an agreement, Baxter would only take over on July 1 after the end of the Premier Soccer League season.
According to Mosimane, Baxter would be the right man for the job.
“I am not the right guy for Bafana. The right guys are [Carlos] Queiroz and Baxter, with a suit and tie. It looks nice. I would rock up in a T-shirt. It doesn’t look proper.
“This job wants the likes of Hugo Broos and others [like him]. The Europeans can lead African football. We will do it at the clubs. Roger [de Sa] and Gavin [Hunt] are the right people. When it’s me and Shakes, there are doubts. It doesn’t look okay. You know what I am talking about.”
He didn’t just stop at hinting that African football associations prefer and give more support to white coaches. “I am happy at Sundowns because I have a team that believes in me. [Sundowns president] Patrice [Motsepe] came to me three times. Three times. There were the [Johan] Neeskens, [Hristo] Stoichkov and [Henri] Michels there before me.
“In African football, when the coach is white, it’s [more] acceptable. That’s the truth. Go across the continent, look who is managing our national teams.”
But Safa gave Mosimane the chance to coach Bafana despite his skin colour. He failed to take the team to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations under embarrassing circumstances. The team infamously put on that dance of shame at Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga, unaware that head-to-head and not goal difference was used to separate teams that ended level on points.
That dancing moment and the many draws eclipsed every good thing that “Jingles” did at Bafana.
Five years later, he rewrote those wrongs by becoming an African champion with Sundowns.
Ironically Mosimane was part of a Sundowns’ team that benefited from a club that had trouble with the rules. They replaced AS Vita in the group stages of the Caf Champions League after the Democratic Republic of Congo club was kicked out for fielding a suspended player in the preliminary round.
After a 1-1 scare in Uganda two weeks ago, the Brazilians did enough to get past Kampala Capital City Authority to reach the group stage — winning 3–2 on aggregate — in their title defence.
Retaining the Champions League and dominating on the domestic front is what makes Mosimane keen to stay at Chloorkop for a long time.
“I want to help Sundowns win 10 league titles [in the PSL era]. That’s my vision. That’s why I am fighting to go to eight this season. It would be a very good thing. Sundowns must have a different star underneath the badge [for winning 10 league titles].”
Sitting at a round table in a restaurant in Parktown, Mosimane somehow found himself at the head of it — defying the rules of geometry.
It was a fitting place for a man who doesn’t play by everyone else’s rules. But his stance of always challenging authority and his outspoken nature make him liked and despised in equal measure. No one sits on the fence when it comes to their thoughts on him.
“I am not in a popularity contest,” Mosimane said. “I don’t want to be popular. I am happy with myself . . . Even when I was playing for Bafana, I was never liked. You can ask Doctor Khumalo and Teboho Moloi. I was the one who was always talking . . .
“Those who kept quiet went to the [1996 Africa] Cup of Nations. They are the celebrated ones . . . But I don’t have any regrets for what I said and did then. I am happy to be coach of the year in Africa. Some [of those who were in the Bafana team that won the Afcon and were silent] are still coaching development teams.”
I don’t fit the picture of what they want – a good boy
The problem is that people still view coaches based on their skin colour