JOHANNESBURG, Aug 8 : South Africa have approached Pitso Mosimane to return for a second spell as manager to replace veteran Hugo Broos.
South African FA President Danny Jordaan said Mosimane was the choice but “we still need to tie up some loose ends.
“We will make a formal announcement of the coach next week,” he added in a SAFA statement on Saturday.
The 62-year-old Mosimane took over as South Africa coach after the 2010 World Cup in place of Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, whom he understudied for three years.
However, Mosimane was fired in mid-2012 after a disappointing start to 2014 World Cup qualifying.
Mosimane, who has won the African Champions League a total of three times with South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and Egyptian club Al Ahly, botched the permutations when South Africa played their final 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
He employed defensive tactics at home to Sierra Leone in the mistaken belief that South Africa only needed a draw to qualify but they had to win to reach the tournament.
He and his players danced in celebration after the match only to then be told they had misunderstood the regulations that gave head-to-head tiebreakers precedence over goal difference.
Mosimane bounced back from that blunder to lead Sundowns to the Champions League title in 2016 and was hired in 2020 by Al Ahly, who he took to three successive Champions League finals, winning in 2020 and 2021 but finishing runners-up in 2022.
He also coached clubs in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. As a player, Mosimane had spells in Greece and Qatar.
Belgian-born Broos, 74, quit as coach after this year’s World Cup where South Africa reached the last 32 before losing to co-hosts Canada.
Mosimane’s first matches will be Cup of Nations qualifiers at home to Guinea and away against Eritrea next month. It is the start of the campaign to decide the finalists for next year’s tournament in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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