Pitso has a lot to prove to Bafana fans

It was a cold Monday night in the winter of 2012 in Phokeng, just outside Rustenburg in the North West.

The day before, Bafana Bafana had drawn 1-1 with Ethiopia in a World Cup qualifier. That result was less than satisfactory to multitudes of fans who had grown disgruntled with Pitso Mosimane’s era.

Months earlier, he had survived the chop despite a calamitous Africa Cup of Nations qualifying round, when Bafana infamously celebrated a draw thinking they had qualified, only to be told later they had failed due to head-to-head rules.

At the Royal Marang Sports Complex team base that Monday evening, we saw then-Safa chief executive Robin Petersen arrive in a sleek Mercedes-Benz. He was followed by Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana, who was the football body’s vice-president. The writing was on the wall. They had come to deliver the crushing news to Mosimane that his regime was over.

I was with now-retired colleague Billy Cooper outside the sports complex gates after being kicked out by security because there was no official media engagement.

Some four hours later – just after midnight – we were called in for a briefing by the two Safa officials. Mosimane, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen. He had opted to drive back to his Johannesburg home rather than face a media storm in the morning.

It must have been a lonely drive. How he managed to turn that moment of disappointment, of shame, into becoming arguably SA’s most decorated coach is something to behold.

That he was confirmed as Bafana head coach on Tuesday, 14 years after that humiliation, is a testament to his bouncebackability. As he stated, his trophy cabinet has improved tremendously in these intervening years, as has the demand for his services, which surely saw his remuneration skyrocket to the point that he could afford to take a two-year sabbatical.

But despite his success, Mosimane has a lot to prove. He comes in at a time when Bafana have regained national acclaim. Unlike 14 years ago, their matches are sold out.

Some among the fanbase are not necessarily fond of Pitso. They overlook his recent success and point to the failure that led to his dismissal in his first stint. So even a man of Mosimane’s achievements will have a lot of convincing to do.

Following an historic World Cup in which they reached the knockout stage for the first time, Bafana have improved in the world rankings, and Mosimane can’t dare to take them down. They won bronze at the 2021 Afcon in Ivory Coast – a first medal for the country since 2000 – and Mosimane will have to aim to do better than that.

Merely qualifying for Afcon is not something to celebrate. Bafana fans have long gone past the era of picking which national teams to back during international tournaments. They automatically know theirs will be there.

While Mosimane returns with an enriched CV, the nation’s expectations of the team have become even higher. Thankfully, he has the immediate task of qualifying SA for next year’s Afcon, which will take place in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Qualifiers for the 2030 World Cup shouldn’t be far off either.

But if there’s a man who loves a challenge, it’s Pitso Mosimane.