Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane launched an emotional tirade against the South African soccer media after the depleted national team played to a 1-1 draw against West African giants Ghana in Rustenburg at the weekend.
The South African Football Association was widely criticised after Bafana’s two home games last week were downgraded from friendly internationals to practice matches and Mosimane’s third-string outfit was given little chance against Zambia and Ghana.
“How many times have you guys written an obituary for me? How many times?” Mosimane said at the post-match press conference.
“Everybody wrote an obituary for us before we started. Everybody saw us being slaughtered … Everybody wrote, ‘they turned the game into practice matches, they’re afraid, they’re scared’.”
Mosimane was quick to point out that his depleted squad had held their own against the Ghanaians.
The young side, without a host of first-choice players due to club commitments, injury and personal reasons, had also drawn 1-1 against Zambia in Johannesburg earlier in the week.
“Yes, another match we haven’t won, but nobody cares how it even went, or who you played,” Mosimane said.
“We played with a team of Free State Stars, Wits and Ajax — that’s it.”
‘The boys survived’
Despite both visiting sides using the games as warm-ups for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon later this month, Mosimane said his players should be commended for their performances against near full-strength international outfits.
“Who was missing from Ghana, except Asamoah Gyan? Who was missing from Zambia? … Tell me of a player who was missing — and the boys survived.”
Mosimane had faced scathing criticism after a bungling of Afcon rules saw Bafana Bafana embarrassingly eliminated at the final qualifying hurdle last year.
He insisted, however, that he would not relinquish his post and his team would bounce back at next year’s Afcon tournament which will be hosted by South Africa.
“The dice is loaded against me, but I fight back when it’s loaded against me and that’s when you get the best out of me,” he said.
“I will survive and strive until the 2013 Cup of Nations.”
Organised
South Africa have won only one of their last nine encounters — seven of which were official internationals — but Mosimane said the South African football media were pessimistic in its coverage of the national team.
“The Zambia coach and the Ghana coach said there’s potential and we gave them a good game,” he said.
“Yet, in our country we’re fighting amongst ourselves, criticising among ourselves … Both oppositions have told you that we’re organised. If you’re a good journalist you can see that we’re organised.”
Mosimane said he was working in a challenging environment, and top foreign coaches did not have to deal with the same issues he faced.
“You can bring [Jose] Mourinho or Alex Ferguson to South Africa — big names, how many come? … You don’t understand the problem we have in South Africa. You’re personalising it to one person, to the coach … There’s too many problems in South Africa. You can bring Ferguson, maybe he will leave and say, ‘What kind of football is this? You don’t have players’. Then he’ll leave.”
After 18 months in charge, having taken over the national side following the 2010 World Cup, Mosimane believed he was the best person for the job.
“I’m a local boy and I want to do the work for Bafana,” he said.
“I want to write my history, and I will soldier on.” — Sapa