South African coaches have been made aware of the danger of being blinded by the love and respect they received in the early days from African teams, forgetting what attracted them to them.
This warning came from Roger De Sa who is one of the South’s exemplary coaches, who has coached in different countries as the deputy of Carlos Quieroz from Portugal who coached Bafana Bafana.
These coaches were in charge of the Ghanaian national team that played in the World Cup that wrapped up last weekend. De Sa commented on the employment of South African coaches in different countries. Among these coaches are Manqoba Mngqithi, recently hired by Young Africans from Tanzania, and Eric Tinkler who coaches Asante Kotoko from Ghana. The others are Steve Barker who coaches Tanzania’s Simba, Benni McCarthy who cooks for the Kenyan national team and Rulani Mokoena who was recently hired by Egypt’s Pyramids.
“It is good that Mzansi coaches go outside with the aim of learning other ways of playing because this will strengthen our league as well as the national team,” said De Sa who has also worked in Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and Iran in the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“The most important thing for Mzansi coaches is that they are not blinded by the love and respect with which they will be received because when things don’t go well, the hatred directed at them is equal to the excitement with which they came.
“It is important that South African coaches understand the relationship between Africans and South Africans. Not turning away from doing what these teams have seen to do, is the key to keeping the job in Africa.
“I have no doubt that all these coaches working abroad will return to Mzansi better than what they left.”
De Sa and Tinkler worked together at Bidvest Wits and Orlando Pirates where they reached the Caf Confederation Cup final in 2013.