Speaking ahead of Bafana Bafana’s draw with Liberia on Friday, Pitso Mosimane spoke out in defence of Hugo Broos.
However, even Jingles might be losing faith in the Belgian after South Africa’s capitulation in Johannesburg, as Liberia came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 in a major blow to their Africa Cup of Nations hopes.
Speaking ahead of Hugo Broos’s decision not to engage with the South African media on Friday, Mosimane acknowledged that even he is sometimes surprised by the Belgian’s outbursts.
“Sometimes, coach Broos says what he wants to say and I get taken aback as a South African citizen and a coach,” Mosimane told the local media, “and I say ‘oh, oh’.
“But that’s his personality, his philosophy and how he looks at our country,” he added. “I don’t know.”
Mosimane insisted that—within reason—he doesn’t matter what Broos says, as long as the results on the pitch are up to scratch.
Backpagepix“What’s important is to focus on the results,” he continued. “If he takes us to the Africa Cup of Nations, that’s what we want.
“We have no excuse not to make the next World Cup. I mean it’s nine countries (from Africa). So how can we miss that?”
Indeed, the majority of South African fans may well agree, and be able to turn a blind eye to Broos’s antics off the pitch—and particularly his outburst after finally appearing before the media on Friday—if his side are delivering on the pitch.
Surely, if South Africa hadn’t crumbled on Friday, supporters could have tolerated his claims of anger and frustration.
BackpagepixHowever, with results not going to plan, Broos is going to find himself in a sticky situation very quickly unless he can turn things around.
Leading 2-0 in Johannesburg with just over 20 minutes to play, South Africa were in a glorious position, but now find themselves requiring a result in Monrovia and potentially relying on Morocco to get the job done.
Bafana were hardly as dominant in front of their own fans as Mosimane and others may have expected, registering 54 percent of the possession and fewer shots on target (five) than the visitors (six).
South Africa’s shot accuracy of 29 percent would also ought to worry Jingles and other observers, while Liberia’s tackling accuracy was superior to Bafana, who also failed to win more duels than their opponents.
Considering the talent available to the Cosafa giants, surely they should have been eclipsing the Lone Stars and taking all three points at home to take a giant step towards the Ivory Coast.
Mosimane can put Broos’s words to one side all he wants, but even if he’s ‘focusing on the results’, then he’s similarly set to conclude that the Belgian is not meeting expectations as Bafana head coach.
