SA football needs cash to become a powerhouse, says Pitso

Coach Pitso Mosimane isn't surprised by the resurgence of Moroccan football, urging the SA government and corporates to help Safa by investing in football for Bafana Bafana to be a force to be reckoned with again.

Moroccan football has been on the rise in the past year, with its clubs and senior national team proving dominant. Morocco made global headlines when they stunned one of the World Cup competition's favourites Belgium 2-0 in Doha last Sunday.

Mosimane saw the resurgence of Moroccan football coming. The former Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns mentor has entreated the government and big companies to come to the party if SA is to emulate Morocco.

"Six or eight months back I made a statement about Morocco... saying Morocco is going to be the powerhouse of African football. I spent the better part of the last three years in Morocco, doing my coaching courses.

"I am not surprised that the Moroccan national team is doing well because their football is well structured. They have made huge investment into football as a whole, they have world-class facilities all over the country,'' Mosimane said in a virtual media conference yesterday.

"I mean, their women's team [AS FAR] beat Sundowns in the Women's Champions League. I don't know how long it will take us [SA] to get there in terms of infrastructure and facilities... to develop the coaches and players.

"It costs money and we can't expect the football federation [Safa] to fork out that kind of money. We know that Safa doesn't have the strength to build those kind of facilities. It's a question of government and private companies coming on board."