BAFANA TO THE DUGOUT

WHICH FORMER BAFANA BAFANA PLAYERS HAVE MADE THE TRANSITION TO TOP COACHES?

- Mogamad Allie

It is common knowledge that the best players do not automatically morph into the best coaches. There are many examples of top players who didn't quite cut the mustard when moving into coaching roles - in South Africa one thinks of former stars such as Doctor Khumalo and Arthur Zwane, while in Europe, the likes of Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard have been unable to replicate their heroics as players in the coaching dugout.

In South Africa, however, many former Bafana Bafana players have had encouraging success as coaches, with several delivering silverware during their ongoing careers.

Pitso Mosimane, who only won four caps for Bafana, is without a doubt the most successful South African coach. The former Jomo Cosmos and Mamelodi Sundowns striker, who started out as assistant to Bruce Grobbelaar at SuperSport United in 2000, took over the head coaching role when the former Liverpool goalkeeper was fired in 2001.

During his six-year tenure with Matsatsantsa, Mosimane won the SAA Supa 8 in 2004 and Nedbank Cup the following year. After a stint with the national team, first as assistant to Carlos Alberto Parreira and then as head coach after the 2010 World Cup, Mosimane came into his own as a coach by turning around the fortunes of what was then an ailing Mamelodi Sundowns side he joined midway through the 2012-13 season.

For the record, he helped Sundowns to their first ever African Champions League title in 2016, and delivered five league titles as well as two Nedbank Cups and Telkom Knockouts. He also won two Champions League titles with Egyptian giants AI Ahly as well as the first-division crown with Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia.

Neil Tovey, who captained Bafana Bafana to their historic first ever Africa Cup of Nations title in 1996, also lifted the league title as coach, albeit in a joint operation with Argentinian Miguel Gamondi when Sundowns claimed their fifth PSL title in 2007.