‘SA must take Africa contests seriously’

After Mamelodi Sundowns negotiated passage to the quarterfinals of the Caf Champions League with a commanding 3-0 win over Lobi Stars of Nigeria on Saturday‚ Pitso Mosimane urged South African sides to make continental competitions a top priority.

Kaizer Chiefs were dumped out of the Confederation Cup by Zambian side Zesco United and Orlando Pirates are in danger of being eliminated from the Champions League group stages after they were held to a 2-2 draw by FC Platinum of Zimbabwe on Friday.

“It is important for SA football that teams like Pirates and Chiefs go to the last stages of these tournaments because SuperSport United once did it‚” Mosimane said‚ adding that there was no excuse for failure.

“It is important because our league is top.

“We just do not have an excuse not to represent the country properly on the continent.

“Why should Algeria‚ Tunisia and Egypt always have two teams in the two competitions?

“We also need to have two and stay longer.

“We can’t complain about budgets. What budgets are you complaining about?

“Where do other teams get the budget from?

“Simba FC from Tanzania are playing in the group stages of the Confederation Cup‚ let’s be honest and treat these tournaments right.

“It is also important for our national team because when Bafana Bafana beat Nigeria 2-0‚ Percy Tau and Themba Zwane played twice against Enyimba in the Champions League.

“Everybody needs to take this seriously‚ we need to team up and fight everybody from outside.”

Looking back at the game against Lobi Stars‚ Mosimane said he was satisfied with his team’s performance.

“I am happy that we outplayed Lobi Stars but I am not happy with the chances we missed.”–