Africa’s most successful club coach Pitso Mosimane says African countries that will represent the continent at FIFA World Cup in Qatar one of them has a chance to reach the semi-finals.
Mosimane, who was Bafana assistant coach to Carlos Alberto Perreira in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, has also applauded member associations such as Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Cameroon and Tunisia for opting for local coaches ahead of the global show event.
This has never happened since the inception of the FIFA World Cup in 1930.
Senegal will for the second time in successive World Cup led by Aliou Cisse, Cameroon by Rigobert Song, Ghana by Otto Addo, Tunisia’s Jalel Kadri and Morocco will be led by Walid Regragui.
Regragui was appointed last month after he helped Wydad Casablanca to win the CAF Champions League triumph, beating Mosimane’s Al Ahly in the final.
With this show of faith by member associations to appoint their homegrown coaches, Mosimane says the issue of African nations struggling to reach semi-finals is set to be a thing of the past.
“To have trust in African coaches is massive and shows a great sense of growth on the continent that must be sustained,” Mosimane told BBC Sport Africa.
“This is not a campaign against foreign coaches but applause to the decision-makers in our national associations.
“A lot of people ask why African teams have not gone beyond the last eight or contested for the World Cup title itself, and I believe this is a big step to get there.
“Africa can definitely break that semi-final barrier if we back our own coaches who truly understand the mentality, cultural challenges and methods required to perform.”
An African country was unlucky in the 2010 World Cup when Ghana saw Asamoah Gyan miss a vital penalty against Uruguay in the quarter-finals that would have surely seen them become the first nation to do so.
Ghana became the third African nation to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup, following Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002. All these nations were led by foreign coaches.
“Our coaches going to the World Cup are qualified and adequately prepared for the role because it is not beyond their ability,” added Mosimane.
“I know my brothers Aliou and Walid very well because we shared classes during our (Confederation of African Football) Pro license course. They’ve both proven themselves on the job and attained the highest coaching certificates as well.
“Rigobert needs no introduction in world football before taking over in Cameroon, while Otto has shown the managerial calmness to lead Ghana. Kadri has done well for Tunisia to get them to the tournament.”
The World Cup will start on 20 November and conclude on 18 December.
