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Pitso backs ‘local coach’ for Bafana job

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Benni McCarthy

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane may have ruled himself out of the running to be the next Bafana Bafana coach, but backs a local coach to take the reins mentioning the likes of Benni McCarthy, Gavin Hunt and Steve Komphela as potential candidates.

Rumours have been abounding on who will be appointed as Bafana’s next boss almost immediately after Stuart Baxter announced his resignation last Friday.

Former Bafana coach Mosimane, though, was quick to reveal that he was not interested in the job, but had some suggestions for the South African Football Association (Safa) on who would be able to fill the vacancy.

‘I am doing Africa here. I am happy to be here,’ Mosimane said on his job at Sundowns.

‘I have a contract that I have to honour. I have never broken any contract. The only contract that I didn’t finish was at SuperSport United, because SuperSport said, “Coach, you’ve got to be a part of the World Cup.”

‘I got an unbelievable experience when I was working with Bafana. It has helped me to be where I am. I must be thankful to Safa for that. I had time to educate myself because there weren’t games every week. Somebody must learn from that.

‘Benni, Steve [Komphela] and Gavin Hunt [are the local choices],’ Mosimane said. ‘Gavin has been asking for a chance, and I think that we should also give him a chance.

‘We were there and couldn’t do what the country needed. Let us give Gavin a chance.

‘Benni has a good name. He is like [Senegal coach, Aliou] Cisse and like the coach of Algeria [Djamel Belmadi]. He played football in Europe and has a big name in the country. We should probably follow that route.

‘But does he want it? [Cape Town City boss, John] Comitis said he will release him if he wants to. But if you appoint Benni, put the right people around him.

‘He has the pedigree for players to respect. “Who are you talking to? I have done it at Bafana.” I like that.

‘But support him with the right people and be patient with him.’

Although Mosimane does not want the top job with Bafana, he was quick to offer his services in a different capacity as a renewed push to qualify for the next World Cup begins.

‘We must help. There are 18 months to go before the World Cup. We must have a team for the World Cup. We must qualify. We have done well in terms of the results at Afcon. If we can come out like we did at the Afcon, than we can be one of the five teams in Africa.

‘We have potential. It’s a difficult job. Everyone has their own challenges. Maybe we should go on a flight if we don’t find the right man locally? Or maybe we should follow what Segenal and Algeria did?

‘They stayed with their own coaches and were patient,’ concluded the Downs coach.