'You can see players play with freedom, excitement and joy in the camp (under Mosimane),' said the Kenya head coach.
Benni McCarthy has been impressed with what he has seen from Bafana Bafana under Pitso Mosimane thus far. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy believes Bafana Bafana would have given an even better display at the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals if Pitso Mosimane had been in charge.
McCarthy, Bafana’s leading all-time goalscorer, will lead the Harambee Stars against Bafana in back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group D qualifiers. Kenya will play Bafana at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday and in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Benni impressed by Bafana
And he was clearly impressed by what he saw from Mosimane’s Bafana in their first three matches in ‘Jingles’ second spell in charge. Bafana beat Guinea 2-1 and Eritrea 5-0 in their first two AFCON qualifiers. And they also beat Egypt 1-0 in a friendly in Cairo.
Under Belgian head coach Hugo Broos, Bafana reached the knockout rounds at a Fifa World Cup for the first time in the USA, Canada and Mexico. McCarthy, however, feels the players were carrying too much tension.
“Local is lekker. You can see players play with freedom, excitement and joy in the camp (under Mosimane),” he said.
“They have a coach now that understands them and the culture, what it means to bleed South African.
“It is amazing to see, if only they had that at the World Cup. I think South Africa would have done a bit better than they did. I am not saying anything bad about what the previous coach (Broos) did. I just feel that when I watch Bafana now, so many players that are here now, they were tense when they put that shirt on (at the World Cup).
“Now they play with so much freedom. It is great as a South African to see what the country is doing and what the players are doing. I hope they have endless success under the leadership of coach Pitso.”
McCarthy has had his own coaching battles with Mosimane in the past, when the former was head coach at Cape Town City and the latter was leading Sundowns. And McCarthy had his fair share of success against Mosimane too.
‘Unfortunately it is always as David’
“Coach Pitso has always had the upper hand, has been at places that have infrastructure and the best of everything,” added McCarthy.
“For me as a young coach, I have always just tried to give my best and stay true to myself and go out there, play the best way I can and make it difficult for who I am up against.
“Sometimes I have been fortunate …. Unfortunately it is always as David (that I face Mosimane) and never as Goliath. Tomorrow is another battle. I think tactically we are a strong team and a good team and if we get things right we can give them (a run for their money).”
