BAFANA coach Shakes Mashaba is hoping Mamelodi Sundowns can win the CAF Champions League so that their success can rub off onto the national team.

Mashaba, however, has not been too impressed with Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane, who has spoken to the media about the need for his players to rest and possibly not play in Bafana’s friendly against the Black Stars of Ghana on Tuesday.

Hlompho Kekana, Keagan Dolly and Tebogo Langerman are players Mosimane would like to use in Sundowns’ Champions League first leg against Zamalek on Saturday. Mosimane did say, however, that he would follow proper channels to request that his players return to Chloorkop to prepare for the game, but Mashaba said he has not made a decision yet.

Let me be honest with you. I don’t normally respond to public utterances. I don’t want to stoop that low. Pitso is the coach and he knows that I am a coach and there’s what we call coaching ethics. Pitso knows the procedure. If a player is tired I would definitely understand because we have 25 players here.

But we will sit down and look at it and we will make a decision,”

Mashaba said in Burkina Faso.

Ours is not to say let’s sit over a cup of coffee. Just give me a call and say, coach, I have this problem and how can we sort it out’, instead of going to tell people that Pirates did this and that. The way he is doing it, it’s like we are enemies.

I normally say a country without history shall never be able to determine their way forward. When Pirates won the [Champions League] Cup in 1995, what happened? Bafana won the Afcon in 1996. It shows that it rubbed off.

Look at how many players we have from Sundowns now. If they go on to win it, it will benefit Bafana Bafana because we will have the kind of players who know what it means to venture into Africa. We want to say to Pitso we wish them the best of luck.”