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Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane given an ultimatum by Safa to reach Afcon final
Shape up or ship out! (Possibly ...)
Posted: 2012-02-03 10:35
Safa are talking tough with Pitso Mosimane, but Bafana Bafana fans have heard it all before.
The national team coach has been given an ultimatum by Safa: reach the final of the Africa Cup of Nations next year, or you're out.
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Business Day's Mninawa Ntloko reports acting-Safa president Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana as saying yesterday that Mosimane will be judged on results from now on.
"I am afraid to use the phrase but heads will have to roll [if Bafana do not reach the final]," Nonkonyana said.
"Obviously if we are booted out in the first round, well, it would be a serious indictment.
"That is why we have given the coach all the support he needs because we will not be amused if we are beaten and we do not at least make it to the Final.
"When you are host in the country, then you must at least go to the final so that we can be number one on the continent again."
South Africa will be hosting the Nations Cup next year, but considering our past performances, reaching the final looks likely to be a couple of steps too far for Mosimane. Since winning the tournament at home in 1996 and making the Final in '98, Bafana's record at the tournament looks like this:
2000 (4th), 2002 (quarter-final), 2004 (first round), 2006 (first round, no goals scored), 2008 (first round), 2010 (did not qualify), 2012 (did not qualify).
When Mosimane was appointed Bafana Bafana coach in July 2010, then-Safa CEO Leslie Sedibe confirmed to KickOff.com that it was "critical" that South Africa qualify for the next two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations – along with the 2014 World Cup.
These conditions were reportedly "loosely attached" to Pitso Mosimane’s mandate as the new coach. They turned out not to be attached at all, as missing out on Angola 2010, Bafana failed to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup, reaching a new low last year – in the infamous 0-0 draw with Sierra Leone in Nelspruit – and Mosimane stayed put, almost without a cross word from his employers.
After Raymond Hack's haunting observation that it was a "blessing in disguise" Bafana did not qualify for the 2010 Afcon, Safa vice-president Mandla 'Shoes' Mazibuko, incredibly, told KickOff.com in October last year that it would be a "blessing in disguise" if Bafana did not qualify for the 2012 Afcon, as it would give us time to "focus our energy" toward hosting the 2013 edition.
I'm sure, if we don't reach the final of next year's Afcon, it will be a "blessing in disguise", allowing us to concentrate on 2014 World Cup qualification. Then it will be a "blessing in disguise" when we don't qualify for that.
Nobody will be happier than me if Bafana do reach the final of the Nations Cup next year, honestly. And while there are some things I don't see eye-to-eye with Mosimane about, overall I support him as Bafana coach – or at least the idea of keeping him on. But the double-speak, cronyism and double-standards in our national team structures is torture for the supporters.
Bafana Bafana is our team, and the question is, why should we believe Nonkonyana now, when he says that Mosimane will be judged "on outcomes"?
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: 2012-02-03 10:48
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