Mosimane targets perfect start continuing as Bafana face Kenya in Afcon qualifiers

Pitso Mosimane wants South Africa to extend his winning start as coach when Bafana Bafana face Benni McCarthy’s Kenya in two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

South Africa host the Harambee Stars at Orlando Stadium on Friday at 6pm before travelling to Nairobi for the return match next Tuesday. Bafana will be aiming to win both games and maintain the momentum built during Mosimane’s opening weeks in charge.

Mosimane’s side beat Guinea and Eritrea in the Afcon qualifiers in late September, before completing a run of three successive victories with a friendly win over Egypt at the beginning of October.

Kenya have already qualified for the 2027 edition of the tournament as co-hosts alongside Uganda and Tanzania. Their two meetings with South Africa are therefore being used as preparation for the competition.

Mosimane said he hoped his 100% record would continue, but rejected the suggestion that the results had removed pressure from his position.

“I hope it remains like that,” he said.

“If you don’t want pressure, don’t coach Bafana. In fact, don’t coach any team. Is the coach at Chippa [Brandon Truter] under pressure? Who is not under pressure, and who is in their comfort zone?

“I’ve seen the coach of [Orlando] Pirates [Abdeslam Ouaddou] celebrating the derby [victory]. I feel how difficult the emotions and the build-up of this thing are. We are all under pressure. The minute you are not under pressure, you are in your comfort zone, and when you are not under pressure, you must know that you are in the wrong space.”

The South Africa manager also played down the possible benefit Kenya could gain from McCarthy’s knowledge of Bafana.

McCarthy previously worked with South Africa and is now in charge of Kenya, but Mosimane said that familiarity did not automatically provide a decisive advantage.

“I guess everybody knows how Barcelona plays, right,” he said.

“Everybody knows how Arsenal is playing, right? Everybody sees Bayern Munich. Everyone has got analysts, four analysts people have got that, so they don’t know how they play? Everybody knows how you play. Just because I know how Benni plays doesn’t mean I have an advantage now. No, it just gives me a little bit of data and understanding of seeing patterns and what is most likely to come.

“What if he has changed the plan? Everybody knows how Pirates play until you get into Orlando [Stadium], right? It is the way it is in football.”