Mosimane urges Bafana Bafana to stay grounded after winning return

Pitso Mosimane has called for calm after beginning his second spell in charge of Bafana Bafana with a 2-1 victory over Guinea in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday.

Bafana Bafana moved to the top of Group D after Ime Okon put them ahead in the first half. Guinea equalised through Seydouba Cisse, but substitute Samukele Kabini scored the decisive goal to give Mosimane victory in his first match since replacing Hugo Broos.

Co-hosts Kenya have already qualified for the finals but drew 1-1 with Eritrea on Saturday. A win against Eritrea on Wednesday at 18:00 would strengthen Bafana Bafana’s position before their back-to-back meetings with Kenya in November.

“Good start; let’s keep our feet on the ground. We don’t have to be too excited; it is only the first game,” Mosimane told the media at his post-match news conference.

“We played well. We are a good team, but there is still a long way to go.”

Mosimane demands greater efficiency

With the second qualifier approaching, Mosimane said his team must improve its finishing. Both of Bafana Bafana’s goals against Guinea came from defenders.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t take the chances we created. But we put pressure on and showed we wanted to score,” he said.

“We had many free kicks and corners. The South African challenge is that we don’t score easily. We score two out of six chances, maybe. But we had the right mentality; we wanted to play and fight and press.

“We created opportunities. You can complain about not scoring, but you cannot complain about not creating.”

Mosimane had spent time speaking to Kabini on the touchline before the left-back scored, but the coach rejected any suggestion that he should receive credit for the substitute’s contribution.

“I don’t take credit for those things because we coaches, sometimes, when there’s a goal, we want to sound intelligent,” he said.

“But that’s my talk with him. I can’t tell you what we spoke about. We are overloaded with fullbacks.

“[Fawaaz] Basadien is also available, but Kabini is playing at a good level. He needs to be given a chance. Kabini is a big, solid boy. He’s strong, and you could see that the Guinea players are big and strong.”