Mosimane backs Mbuthuma and Rayners after South Africa’s Guinea victory

Pitso Mosimane praised the contributions of Yanela Mbuthuma and Iqraam Rayners after South Africa began their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win over Guinea.

Bafana Bafana controlled much of Saturday’s match at the Orlando Amstel Arena and created a series of chances, but Mosimane acknowledged that failing to convert more of them remains a familiar concern for the national side.

South Africa won the match through Samukele Kabini’s decisive goal, with substitute Mbuthuma playing a key role by providing the assist. Mosimane said the number of opportunities created was encouraging, even if his side could have been more clinical.

“We got many free kicks, many corner kicks in the first half, and you don’t get that if you don’t create opportunities,” Mosimane told journalists at his post-match press conference.

“But you know, the South African challenge, we don’t score easily. We score two out of six maybe, but you can’t complain about the boys.

“They have the right mentality, they want to play, they fight, they press, and we create opportunities. Sometimes we complain about not scoring, but we should not complain about creating chances. Because sometimes you’re not scoring because you don’t make any chances.”

Mbuthuma makes an impact

Mosimane was especially pleased with Mbuthuma’s influence after the striker came on as a substitute and helped create the winning goal.

The coach felt the assist would be valuable for the Pirates striker’s confidence, although he also believed Mbuthuma had been close to scoring himself earlier in the match.

“I was happy for Mbuthuma to make this assist. It is good for his confidence,” Mosimane said.

“I thought he would convert the other one, the cross that came just to put himself in the team properly. But he came on, he fought.”

Rayners started at centre-forward before making way for Mbuthuma. Although the Sundowns striker did not score, Mosimane praised his movement, pressing and effort, explaining that he had selected a traditional number nine rather than Cassius Mailula for the match.

“I didn’t need a Cassius (Mailula) for this game. Cassius is smart. He’s intelligent. But I needed a 9,” he said.

“Because sometimes, you know, Iqraam can take you out with one ball. You saw that. But the ball didn’t fall for Iqraam. There was one I thought it would fall for him. And as he tried to turn, I knew he would score that ball. But it didn’t fall for him.”

Mosimane added that a striker’s contribution should not be judged only by goals, pointing to Rayners’ work away from the ball.

“He made good runs also in the first half. The boys didn’t see him from the left side. I thought they would pass him because he had been fighting and pressing from the top,” he said.

“He started to press. So, he worked hard. The striker working hard is not scoring goals. We might not see that kind of side of the game. We’re looking at, did he score?”