Owen da Gama will lead Bafana Bafana for their friendly in Mozambique on Tuesday‚ the sixth time a caretaker coach has been needed to replace an incumbent for the national side since readmission.
Head coach Shakes Mashaba’s suspension by the SAFA means he has not travelled to Maputo with the squad‚ leaving Da Gama to take his bow in charge of the national side.
And it is not the first time the combustible Mashaba has had to sit out a game during his tenure in charge of the side having fallen foul of his employers.
But he has also come to the rescue of the team when needed with positive results.
Mashaba was called upon in 2001 when Bafana Bafana had two matches scheduled within days of each other that required two separate squads.
Head coach Carlos Queiroz took the ‘A’ side to Italy for a friendly on April 25 that they lost 1-0‚ while leaving Mashaba to coach the ‘B’ side to a 3-0 win over‚ ironically‚ Mozambique in Maputo in the COSAFA Castle Cup four days later.
Mashaba had already answered an SOS from SAFA just months after South Africa’s reintroduction to international football when he led the team in a 1-0 win over Congo in a World Cup qualifier in October 1992.
It was following the axing of Screamer Tshabalala just six games into his tenure after his side had lost 4-0 to Nigeria in Lagos and he responded by striking journalist Sy Lerman.
Phil Masinga scored the winner for Mashaba’s team‚ but Augusto Palacios was hired full-time.
Assistant coach Trott Moloto took over for a single game in April 2002 during the tenure of Jomo Sono‚ who instead when to watch Bafana’s looming World Cup opponents Paraguay take on England in a friendly.
Moloto led the side to a 0-0 draw with Ecuador‚ but provided a little too much passion from the sidelines and was red-carded for remonstrating with the referee.
Sono was then asked to fill in for Mashaba when the latter was sidelined by SAFA for a high-profile friendly against England in Durban that was lost 2-1.
Mashaba had refused to select some of Bafana’s overseas-based players for the game‚ famously saying the only difference between Santos midfielder Tyren Arendse and England legend David Beckham was the size of their respective salaries.
Sono was drafted in‚ along with the likes a number of Bafana’s overseas stars in a match that was seen as an important showcase for the country’s ability to host the 2010 World Cup.
As the fallout from that match continued‚ Konti Kubheka was asked to take a second-string side to Zimbabwe for the COSAFA Castle Cup in July 2003‚ a match that the national team lost.
"Shakes is an up-and-coming coach with an impeccable record.
"The international board decided it was not in his interests to give him a team consisting of players that were not of his choice. We thought that would be putting his reputation on the line‚" SAFA spokesperson Sithembele Khala said at the time.
The most recent case of a caretaker coach taking over from the incumbent was just last year when again a scheduling problem forced assistant boss Thabo Senong into the role.
Bafana’s ‘A’ side were on a tour of Costa Rica and Honduras‚ but the country were entered into the African Nations Championship qualifiers just four days after the second of those matches.
Senong stayed behind to prepare a ‘B’ selection and they were beaten 2-0 by Angola.
Mashaba returned for the second leg that was won 2-1‚ but Bafana bowed out of the qualifiers.
CARETAKER COACHES – BAFANA BAFANA
Shakes Mashaba (for Carlos Queiroz): 29/04/01 (a) v Mozambique 3-0
Trott Moloto (for Jomo Sono): 17/04/02 (a) v Ecuador 0-0
Jomo Sono (for Shakes Mashaba): 22/05/03 (h) v England 1-2
Konti Kubheka (for Shakes Mashaba): 19/07/03 (h) v Zimbabwe 0-1
Thabo Senong (for Shakes Mashaba): 17/10/15 (h) v Angola 0-2 - TMG Digital
Da Gama's temporary appointment follows tradition of Bafana caretaker coaches
Owen da Gama will lead Bafana Bafana for their friendly in Mozambique on Tuesday‚ the sixth time a caretaker coach has been needed to replace an incumbent for the national side since readmission.
Head coach Shakes Mashaba’s suspension by the SAFA means he has not travelled to Maputo with the squad‚ leaving Da Gama to take his bow in charge of the national side.
And it is not the first time the combustible Mashaba has had to sit out a game during his tenure in charge of the side having fallen foul of his employers.
But he has also come to the rescue of the team when needed with positive results.
Mashaba was called upon in 2001 when Bafana Bafana had two matches scheduled within days of each other that required two separate squads.
Head coach Carlos Queiroz took the ‘A’ side to Italy for a friendly on April 25 that they lost 1-0‚ while leaving Mashaba to coach the ‘B’ side to a 3-0 win over‚ ironically‚ Mozambique in Maputo in the COSAFA Castle Cup four days later.
Mashaba had already answered an SOS from SAFA just months after South Africa’s reintroduction to international football when he led the team in a 1-0 win over Congo in a World Cup qualifier in October 1992.
It was following the axing of Screamer Tshabalala just six games into his tenure after his side had lost 4-0 to Nigeria in Lagos and he responded by striking journalist Sy Lerman.
Phil Masinga scored the winner for Mashaba’s team‚ but Augusto Palacios was hired full-time.
Assistant coach Trott Moloto took over for a single game in April 2002 during the tenure of Jomo Sono‚ who instead when to watch Bafana’s looming World Cup opponents Paraguay take on England in a friendly.
Moloto led the side to a 0-0 draw with Ecuador‚ but provided a little too much passion from the sidelines and was red-carded for remonstrating with the referee.
Sono was then asked to fill in for Mashaba when the latter was sidelined by SAFA for a high-profile friendly against England in Durban that was lost 2-1.
Mashaba had refused to select some of Bafana’s overseas-based players for the game‚ famously saying the only difference between Santos midfielder Tyren Arendse and England legend David Beckham was the size of their respective salaries.
Sono was drafted in‚ along with the likes a number of Bafana’s overseas stars in a match that was seen as an important showcase for the country’s ability to host the 2010 World Cup.
As the fallout from that match continued‚ Konti Kubheka was asked to take a second-string side to Zimbabwe for the COSAFA Castle Cup in July 2003‚ a match that the national team lost.
"Shakes is an up-and-coming coach with an impeccable record.
"The international board decided it was not in his interests to give him a team consisting of players that were not of his choice. We thought that would be putting his reputation on the line‚" SAFA spokesperson Sithembele Khala said at the time.
The most recent case of a caretaker coach taking over from the incumbent was just last year when again a scheduling problem forced assistant boss Thabo Senong into the role.
Bafana’s ‘A’ side were on a tour of Costa Rica and Honduras‚ but the country were entered into the African Nations Championship qualifiers just four days after the second of those matches.
Senong stayed behind to prepare a ‘B’ selection and they were beaten 2-0 by Angola.
Mashaba returned for the second leg that was won 2-1‚ but Bafana bowed out of the qualifiers.
CARETAKER COACHES – BAFANA BAFANA
Shakes Mashaba (for Carlos Queiroz): 29/04/01 (a) v Mozambique 3-0
Trott Moloto (for Jomo Sono): 17/04/02 (a) v Ecuador 0-0
Jomo Sono (for Shakes Mashaba): 22/05/03 (h) v England 1-2
Konti Kubheka (for Shakes Mashaba): 19/07/03 (h) v Zimbabwe 0-1
Thabo Senong (for Shakes Mashaba): 17/10/15 (h) v Angola 0-2 - TMG Digital
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