Bafana Bafana head coach Pitso Mosimane has revealed three players who will form the core of his leadership group as he begins his tenure as national team coach.
Mosimane named a 30-member squad that will do duty in the upcoming AFCON 2027 qualifiers. Bafana host Guinea on September 26 before visiting Eritrea four days later in Cairo.
During the same press conference, he named Ronwen Williams, Themba Zwane and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine among the players he intends to entrust with leadership responsibilities. Williams served as Bafana captain under Hugo Broos and led the team to a bronze medal at the 2023 AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire.
The Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper will retain a leadership role, although Mosimane hinted he does not intend to appoint one permanent skipper.
Instead, the former Sundowns and Al Ahly mentor plans to build a group of captains and select his skipper depending on the occasion and the players available.
PITSO MOSIMANE REVEALS HIS BAFANA CAPTAINCY PLAN
“I believe in leadership in many ways, so we won’t have one captain. You have a few captains, and I will choose sometimes the captain of the day because if Mbappé is the captain, I think I can also have a young captain,” Mosimane said.
“The captain doesn’t have to be a player because he’s 38, 35. Themba Zwane is one of my captains, by the way. We need young captains; we need young boys to lead and learn how to be a captain.
“So, one captain, I don’t believe in that because if you are injured and you’re not there — and also, you know, the captain must always be playing, right? So, if you stay with one captain, now you don’t have [him], you can’t call the other one, right?
“And there are a lot of players who have good leadership. And then, for your information, Chaine is gonna be one of the captains. Same as Ronwen [Williams]; he will still remain one of my captains. Let’s go for it. Let’s open this thing.”
CHAINE EMERGES AS ONE OF MOSIMANE’S LEADERS
Chaine’s inclusion in the captaincy group came as a surprise, but showed the faith Mosimane has in him. The Pirates goalkeeper has grown into an influential figure at club level and looks set to be given an opportunity to develop as a leader within the national team.
Zwane, meanwhile, previously worked with Mosimane at Sundowns and is one of the squad’s most experienced players.
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