Pitso Mosimane plays down Bafana rumours

Pitso Mosimane coach of Mamelodi Sundowns

Monday Aug 05, 2019. 14:00

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has played down rumours linking him with a return to the helm of the South African national team.

‘Jingles’ has been mentioned as a candidate to take over Bafana Bafana following the resignation of coach Stuart Baxter last week.

However, speaking after guiding Sundowns to a 2-0 win over SuperSport United in their opening Absa Premiership clash of the new season this past weekend, Mosimane insists there are others who should be considered ahead of him for the national team role.

“I am happy to be here at Sundowns. Maybe we should follow what Senegal and Algeria did to give their former players Aliou Cisse and Djamel Belmadi, respectively. They stayed with their own coaches and they were patient,” Mosimane told the media on Saturday.

“There is Benni, Steve Komphela, Gavin Hunt…I mean Gavin has been asking for a chance and I think we should also give him a chance.

“Benni has got a good name like Cisse and the coach of Algeria. He played football in Europe, and he is a big name in the country. We should probably follow that route, he [McCarthy] wants it because [Cape Town City owner John Comitis] said he can release him if he wants.”

Mosimane has helmed Bafana before, but he is arguably a better coach at this stage of his career, having guided Sundowns to the top of the game both domestically and in the CAF Champions League.

“I have a contract that I have to honour. I never broke any contract. The only contract that I did not finish was at SuperSport United because they said ‘coach you got to be part of the World Cup’,” Mosimane continued.

“Remember I cried when SuperSport said I must go to Bafana. It was unbelievable, so why should I leave this team?

It’s a team I love. I was seven years there. But on the other hand when I looked at it, we were playing CAF Champions League all the time and that’s what I loved.”