Mosimane was in no mood to discuss his team selection after Bafana Bafana’s 2-2 draw with Kenya, hitting back at a journalist who asked why Mbekezeli Mbokazi didn’t start, reports iDiski Times.
Mbokazi was back in the squad after recovering from injury, but Mosimane stuck with the centre-back pairing of Olwethu Makhanya and Ime Okon, who had started Bafana’s first two AFCON qualifiers. The Chicago Fire defender started on the bench.
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The question took on more weight after Makhanya’s late mistake allowed Ryan Ogam to equalise for Kenya at the Orlando Amstel Arena, a goal that cost Bafana two points.
Mosimane rejected any suggestion that his selection was to blame.
“Ahh come on guys, you can’t go there,” he said. “Come on, you don’t want me to lose respect of you.”
The Bafana coach instead pointed to his side’s finishing, after Iqraam Rayners and Tshepang Moremi both missed good chances.
“Now you choose who must play. So we lost because of that, or we lost because we missed many chances? Come on,” he said. “You can [do] better than what you’re saying, right?”
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He ended with a sarcastic jab at the reporter: “It’s the right time to ask, by the way. You are right.”
Bafana travel to Nairobi for the return game on Tuesday, sitting top of Group D on seven points, one ahead of Guinea.
Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
