Bafana Bafana
Pitso: I do feel the pressure
2011-11-22 15:00
Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has admitted there was tremendous pressure in coaching Bafana Bafana but urged his detractors to also "give credit where it’s due".
Following Bafana’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, there has been growing calls for Mosimane to be shown the door. Mosimane for his part said he was not surprised or even perturbed by such calls.
“I take it positively. If I don’t want to be criticised I shouldn’t be coach of Bafana Bafana,” said Mosimane. “What is happening to me is common in SA. It happened to Screamer (Tshabalala), it happened to Shakes (Mashaba) when he was coach of Bafana, it happened to Clive Barker after winning Africa Cup of Nations and six months after that he was taken out.”
“One day I will also be counted as a former Bafana coach. It’s football, we understand and for me it’s a challenge that I wanted to be a Bafana coach. South Africa had never beaten Ghana and Egypt here but we did that and made history. Against Ivory Coast we were never given a chance but we nearly beat them.
“Yes there pressure in football. I do feel the pressure. For me the worrying thing is the wrong perception created as people cloud our performance because of rule 14.1 that took us out. Suddenly they think Bafana is no longer good – it’s the same team.
“Sure there’s pressure. You cannot coach Bafana and there’s no pressure. You can’t coach Pirates and there’s no pressure and you can’t coach Chiefs and there no pressure. But with Bafana there's 46 million coaches,” said Mosimane.