RHULANI Mokwena’s call-up to assist Stuart Baxter at Bafana Bafana for next week’s four-nations tournament in Zambia, has been met with scepticism by Orlando Pirates head coach Milutin “Micho” Sredejovic and Benni McCarthy of Cape Town City FC.
The tournament, which features the hosts along with Zimbabwe and Angola, will be held at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola from 22-25 March.
Bafana will leave for Zambia on Sunday before returning to Mzansi on 27 March.
Baxter rewarded Mokwena who was credited as the brains behind Micho’s transformation of Bucs and as a big role-player in Mamelodi Sundowns’ Absa Premiership title and African Champions League success.
But with his call-up coming as the Premiership reaches a critical stage, and his club in a neck-and-neck race for the title with Downs, Micho reckons the developments could not have come at a worse time and will serve as a distraction for Mokwena.
“That call-up of Rhulani, with all due respect, has come at the wrong time for us,” indicated Micho following his team’s 1-0 loss to Cape Town City FC in the Nedbank Cup Last 16 in the Mother City on Wednesday, with Ayanda Patosi scoring the only goal.
Bucs are four points behind leaders Sundowns in the league table with 39 points and seven matches still to play.
Explained Micho: “It’s wrong timing for us. For us it was all about keeping total peace and concentration in camp.”
But he sees positives in the debut call-up of his assistant: “Still, I am happy that Rhulani will be part of the Bafana technical team. I believe he will make a huge contribution. This is his chance to upgrade his career.“
He was also complimentary regarding the call-up of two of his players – Innocent Memela and Thembinkosi Lorch: “This is the start of a new dawn for Bafana.”
McCarthy echoed Micho’s displeasure: “Hayi wena! This will be an interesting one for Pirates. I don’t think they like to share. This will immobilise their coaching staff. No man, leave Pirates to chase, which is good. Our league must be competitive.”
He says Mokwena is young and very talented: “He has a fantastic head for football. If he can bring a different order to the Bafana setup at youth level, then we can be competitive again.”
However, Bucs boss Irvin Khoza said on radio that Safa had not contacted him about releasing Mokwena. “We have programmes as clubs that we have set up and nobody from Safa has said anything.”
Meanwhile, Micho has apologised to their fans for their cup exit and admitted it was a hard pill to swallow. Bucs will now turn their focus to their league clash with Golden Arrows at Princess Magogo Stadium tomorrow (8.15pm).
“It’s a huge disappointment. But I will not be a crybaby. Everyone will have seen that all the players gave their best, but it was not enough. We need to forget about this and focus on the game against Arrows.”