Mosimane Backs Pieterse

Mamelodi Sundowns’ coach Pitso Mosimane stepped into the defence of Reyaad Pieterse after the Brazilians’ elimination in the Telkom Knockout on Saturday at Peter Mokaba Stadium at the hands of Baroka FC. Bafana BaStyle lost 2-0 with Pieterse conceding a goal from a penalty and a deflected shot.

“Do I really want to judge him on that? A penalty and a deflection? I have seen a deflection scored against Denis Onyango. I have seen a deflection against (Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng) Khune. I have seen a deflection against (Manchester United goalkeeper, David) De Gea and it goes in,” Mosimane said. “All those top goalkeepers, even penalties. So really, I don’t think I should blame him for those two goals. Let’s be honest. It’s not about Reyaad. Let’s not kill the players because we are still going to need him. When he played against Golden Arrows, he had a decent game and there were no questions about his performance.”

Mosimane was critical of his team’s shortcoming in the defeat.

“We need to accept the loss and move on. As much as we controlled and dominated the game, control and dominance doesn’t win you games. What wins you games are the goals. We didn’t score any goal. We didn’t look like we could score, to be honest. In the first half, maybe but in the second half it didn’t look like we could score. It was a handball in the box, a penalty and the second one was a deflection. 2-0. We have to accept this and move on,” Mosimane said.

The Brazilians will shift their focus back to the Absa Premiership where they are the reigning champions and aim to return to be among the best teams in the continent in the Caf Champions League.

“I know that we want the Telkom Knockout, but you can’t win them all,” Mosimane said. “Will you win everything? No. It’s okay. It’s a league cup. We’ve got to move on. We’ve got the league, which is more important. We also have the Champions League which starts in four weeks time, so we’ve got to focus. You can’t have everything. The boys were texting each other while watching the Caf Champions League final on Friday, saying that we should have been there. That’s the space we operate in, at an international level. We represent you as South Africa to make sure that you get the rankings to have two teams in the Champions League and two teams in the Caf Confederation Cup like Orlando Pirates have done. But I understand that here at home we care more about the domestic competitions. We don’t know international football, most of us. A lot to. You ask me if I want to win the Champions League or the Telkom Knockout? You know the answer. The star on top of the badge is the biggest thing ever. If it’s easy, then how many teams have a star on top of their badge?”