BAFANA Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has slammed Caf for the poor state of African football, saying the governing body needs to improve.
Mosimane pointed mainly to the poor pitch conditions under which qualifier games are played on the continent and the dubious officiating.
Bafana failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, despite holding Sierra Leone to a goalless draw at Mbombela Stadium and Niger losing 3-0 to Egypt in the last group G qualifiers at the weekend.
South Africa, Niger and Sierra Leone all finished the group with nine points from six games. Mosimane was under the impression that Bafana had qualified because of their superior goal difference. But according to article 14 of the Caf constitution, the primary deciding criterion when teams are deadlocked on points is the results between those teams. Niger were therefore declared the winners of Group G because they had beaten both Bafana and Sierra Leone.
Mosimane was left confused by the system, and lashed out at Caf for the shoddy organisation.
"Teams that play away in these qualifiers have no chance of victory. It's a jungle out there, my friend," he said. "The conditions are bad on the continent. I watched Germany play their qualifier away on Friday and it's different in Europe. When it comes to Africa, football is very different. The referee gave 10 minutes of extra time in our game against Egypt. Ten minutes!
"The dice are always loaded against teams that play away. Caf needs to improve the conditions and the officiating."
Admittedly, Mosimane's substitutions against Leone were influenced by events in Cairo, where Egypt were winning comfortably against Niger.
Learning that Niger were trailing, Mosimane brought on defensive midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane and attacker Oupa Manyisa in the second half, clearly targeting a point he thought would see them through.
"Do you think I would have put midfielders in place of striker (Lehlohonolo) Majoro if I knew we needed a win at all costs? It doesn't make sense," Mosimane said.
In truth, Bafana did not deliver an outstanding performance, despite playing at home. Clear scoring chances were few and far between in a game Sierra Leone could have also won and qualified, had they been more fluid. But Mosimane insisted they aimed for a win, pointing to his decision to bench Letsholonyane to avoid playing three defensive midfielders.
"I didn't want to play well, but wanted to play to qualify," Mosimane said.
"It's a sad story that we did not qualify. It's the biggest blow."
Pitso spits venom at CAF
BAFANA Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has slammed Caf for the poor state of African football, saying the governing body needs to improve.
Mosimane pointed mainly to the poor pitch conditions under which qualifier games are played on the continent and the dubious officiating.
Bafana failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, despite holding Sierra Leone to a goalless draw at Mbombela Stadium and Niger losing 3-0 to Egypt in the last group G qualifiers at the weekend.
South Africa, Niger and Sierra Leone all finished the group with nine points from six games. Mosimane was under the impression that Bafana had qualified because of their superior goal difference. But according to article 14 of the Caf constitution, the primary deciding criterion when teams are deadlocked on points is the results between those teams. Niger were therefore declared the winners of Group G because they had beaten both Bafana and Sierra Leone.
Mosimane was left confused by the system, and lashed out at Caf for the shoddy organisation.
"Teams that play away in these qualifiers have no chance of victory. It's a jungle out there, my friend," he said. "The conditions are bad on the continent. I watched Germany play their qualifier away on Friday and it's different in Europe. When it comes to Africa, football is very different. The referee gave 10 minutes of extra time in our game against Egypt. Ten minutes!
"The dice are always loaded against teams that play away. Caf needs to improve the conditions and the officiating."
Admittedly, Mosimane's substitutions against Leone were influenced by events in Cairo, where Egypt were winning comfortably against Niger.
Learning that Niger were trailing, Mosimane brought on defensive midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane and attacker Oupa Manyisa in the second half, clearly targeting a point he thought would see them through.
"Do you think I would have put midfielders in place of striker (Lehlohonolo) Majoro if I knew we needed a win at all costs? It doesn't make sense," Mosimane said.
In truth, Bafana did not deliver an outstanding performance, despite playing at home. Clear scoring chances were few and far between in a game Sierra Leone could have also won and qualified, had they been more fluid. But Mosimane insisted they aimed for a win, pointing to his decision to bench Letsholonyane to avoid playing three defensive midfielders.
"I didn't want to play well, but wanted to play to qualify," Mosimane said.
"It's a sad story that we did not qualify. It's the biggest blow."
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