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The era of Helman Mkhalele at Bafana Bafana as assistant coach seems to have come to an end after new coach Pitso Mosimane opted to bring his own trusted members of his technical team to the national setup.
Mkhalele served as Hugo Broos’s assistant coach from 2021 until after this year’s World Cup in July.
Everyone and every coach has his own technical team, right?
— Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane
Speaking during a press conference where he was finally unveiled as Bafana’s new coach on Tuesday, Mosimane explained that longtime analyst Musi Matlaba and conditioning coach Kabelo Rangoaga will be part of his technical team.
“Everyone and every coach has his own technical team, right?
“And I’ll tell you about [Italian coach Carlo] Ancelotti. You know who he takes with (to be his assistant)? He takes his son. And they have won a lot of trophies. If I had my son next to me here in SA instead, I think you would be saying some other things.
“And the world is not looking at Ancelotti and his son, right? It’s looking at the work to be done. I have people that have done the Fifa Club World Cup with me here. Four of them.
“And it’s the people who understand the way I work, the way we work. We work differently. From SA, on the continent, even beyond the borders of the continent. So, I have the people that I think can support me. And, yeah, I think I’m giving you the right answer.”
Mosimane also explained that filling the remaining vacancy of assistant coach is difficult, as local candidates are under contract with other clubs.
“We’re yet to fill the post of the assistant coach. But coaches are not easy to get. They’ve got contracts, so we are busy. We will finalise that a little bit later,” he said.
Mosimane will have to hit the ground running as the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea loom later this month. Bafana are in Group D alongside tournament co-host Kenya, Guinea and Eritrea.
He is expected to announce a preliminary squad this week, with the final team set to be named on September 17.
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