Pitso Mosimane confirms interest in Bafana Bafana role as Safa sounds out successors to Hugo Broos

Pitso Mosimane has confirmed he is open to returning as Bafana Bafana head coach and says the South African Football Association (Safa) has already held talks with him as part of its succession planning for Hugo Broos.

The former South Africa boss, who turns 62 on Sunday, said Safa had approached “a lot” of potential candidates about taking over from the 74-year-old Belgian, whose contract expires this month.

Broos has overseen a significant upturn in Bafana’s fortunes, guiding them to the semi-finals and a bronze medal at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and securing qualification for a first World Cup in 16 years. But he has previously stated he intends to retire after the tournament and is only considering a possible short-term extension.

Speaking in Johannesburg on Thursday at the launch of his first book, Pitso Mosiamne, Youth Football: Coaching Manual, at Sandton Southern Sun, Mosimane made clear he would listen to an offer to return to the national team.

“I don’t know when the contract [for Broos] ends, is it available or not, but I know the federation has spoken to a lot of us about somebody to come in for a succession plan,” he said.

“[Safa asked], ‘What do you want, what are you going to do, what’s your plan, how do we take Bafana to a better level?’

“We are always saying we want to leave the jersey at a better place. There’s room for improvement.”

Mosimane questions ceiling of current Bafana progress

While acknowledging recent achievements under Broos, Mosimane suggested South Africa should not see their current level as unprecedented.

Bafana reached the last 16 of the World Cup in North America last month, progressing beyond the group stage for the first time in their history before a stoppage-time 1-0 defeat by co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles. That, however, came in an expanded 48-team tournament, increased by FIFA from 32.

Mosimane argued that previous generations had already shown what South Africa could do on the biggest stages.

“It’s not the first time we qualified for the World Cup. Carlos Queiroz did it,” he said. “It’s not the first time we [did well in] Afcon. Clive Barker won it.

“So we can maybe talk about going into the next stages of the knockouts; yes, that we can celebrate. But being in the semifinals, quarterfinals [of Afcon], we have done that, let’s be honest.

“So that bar is high, but it has been achieved before. We cannot just say, ‘Oh, it’s a high bar and all that’.”

The former SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly (Cairo) coach pointed to his own club record as an example that standards can always be raised.

“I left Sundowns [in 2020] with the [2016] Champions League; did they get the second one [after me]? They did. So every level can be reached, can be improved.

“I mean, I left Sundowns, I had won the treble and they have won the league how many times after that?”

Mosimane also recalled South Africa’s performance at the 2010 World Cup under Carlos Alberto Parreira, when he was assistant coach.

“With [Carlos Alberto] Parreira, we never lost to Mexico, right? We were 1-0 up until the 80th minute [in the 1-1 2010 World Cup opening game at FNB Stadium]. So come on, we have played Mexico before.

“So really, it’s not something where you have to say how high the bar is. I mean come on, we have beaten Morocco man, we have beaten Nigeria, we have beaten Ghana. So let’s also be realistic about what has happened.

“We have been in the semifinals before of Afcon. Anything is possible, we can raise the bar, We have to leave the jersey at a better place. [Is it] possible? Yes. Why? Because they’ve been done before.”

U-turn on Safa stance and future plans

Mosimane’s comments mark a clear shift from his position in 2019, when he said he would not work for Safa again after his spell as national coach from 2010 to 2012.

He confirmed that, with his off-field projects now largely in place, he is again fully available for a return to frontline coaching.

Mosimane has been focused on his development project, Pitso Mosimane Soccer Schools, and on completing his youth coaching manual, which he described as “so important” to finalise before considering his next job.

“This was so important for me that I had to do it and it clears a little bit of space for me to say, do we go back to the dugout, what’s in there, why there?

“Offers are there every time. It’s time now, the preseason, some teams haven’t settled on their coaches. This is the time; they need to look now.

“We can all do it. So no-one is really indispensable or [it’s a case of], ‘What are we going to do [if they leave]?’

“I mean come on, we can do a little bit better, right? Yes.”

He reiterated that interest from clubs and federations is a constant.

“Offers are there every time. It’s time now, the preseason, some teams haven’t settled on their coaches,” Mosimane said. “This is the time; they need to look now.”