Pitso Mosimane wants to broaden Bafana Bafana’s leadership group by giving younger players opportunities to captain the national team, while retaining Ronwen Williams as his first-choice skipper.
Mosimane, who recently returned for a second spell as Bafana head coach, revealed that he does not intend to rely on one permanent captain as he prepares his team for the upcoming AFCON qualifiers.
The coach has named a 30-man squad for the upcoming AFCON qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea, followed by a friendly against Egypt.
Bafana face Guinea at Orlando Stadium on September 26 before their meeting with Eritrea four days later.
Williams remains the senior captain under Mosimane, but Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine is set to join him in the leadership group.
Veteran midfielder Themba Zwane has also been identified as one of Mosimane’s captains, despite the coach’s desire to introduce younger leaders.
“I believe in leadership in many ways. So we won’t have one captain.
“We have a few captains, and I will choose sometimes a captain of the day because if (French striker Kylian) Mbappe is a captain, I think we can have also a young captain. Captain doesn’t have to be a player because he’s 38, 35, okay.”
Mosimane believes captaincy should not automatically be reserved for the oldest or most experienced player in the squad.
His decision to include Chaine in the leadership group represents an opportunity for the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper to take on greater responsibility at international level.
The 29-year-old has established himself as one of the leading goalkeepers in the Betway Premiership and will compete with Williams and Ricardo Goss for a place in the national team.
Mosimane confirmed that Williams’ position as captain has not been taken away, while also revealing Zwane remains part of his leadership structure.
“Themba Zwane is one of my captains, by the way… And for your information Chaine is going to be one of the captains, same as Ronwen he will still remain my captain. Let’s go for it, let’s open this thing.”
The comments underline Mosimane’s intention to develop a broader leadership culture within Bafana rather than placing the responsibility solely on Williams.
For Mosimane, the captaincy structure will provide an opportunity to test different leaders while maintaining Williams as the senior figure in the squad.
