By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The South African Football Association (Safa) is expected to announce the firing of Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki at a press conference at Safa House on Wednesday‚at noon.
This follows an apparent confrontational meeting between Safa’s leadership and the coach at the Association’s headquarters in Nasrec late on Tuesday.
Bafana Bafana played to a 1-1 draw with Ghana at FNB Stadium last Thursday and needed only a point to seal their spot at the AFCON finals but completely bottled the job.
Having failed at the mandate, the 51-year-old former under-17 national team head coach has accepted responsibility and expressed grave disappointment at letting South Africa down.
“I think as a head coach of Bafana Bafana, I came up with a turn-around strategy and I think everything started very well, because we managed to accumulate 10 points and needed only a point to qualify,” Ntseki told SAFA media after the match.
“Yes, as a coach, as head of the selection committee, as head of the team, my disappointment is huge – it’s huge for my personal growth and my personal achievement as coach of Bafana Bafana.
“The success of the team is my success, and the failure of the team firstly starts with me – to say, ‘I have failed as a coach’, because in football we need to own up.
“When there is success, you become everybody’s favourite but when there is failure, you become and orphan and everybody looks at you and says, ‘You failed the team; you could not qualify.’
“But things like this do happen in football, and we own up… It’s a big disappointment for myself.”
Ntseki guided Bafana to back-to-back victories over Sao Tome and Principe to take a big step towards qualification for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The results saw the former national under-17 mentor take his tally as senior head coach to four wins, one draw and two losses since taking over the reins from Stuart Baxter in August last year.
As far as statistics go, Ntseki was enjoying an impressive start to his tenure with a win percentage of 57% – more than any of his predecessors who lasted more than five games.
Shakes Mashaba, currently holds the record for best national team coach with a 55% win percentage from four separate stints combined – including two as interim.
Just behind him is the legendary Clive Barker, who remains the only Bafana coach who has collected silverware at the historic 1996 AFCON in South Africa.
Baxter, whom Ntseki succeeded last year, is level with ex-World Cup winner Carlos Alberto Parreira – both having recorded a win percentage of 44%.