AFCON a double-edged sword for coaches

FORMER Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has weighed in on the positives and challenges teams will face when they use the upcoming AFCON in Morocco to gauge their readiness for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

- MIHLALI BALEKA

The biggest football event on the continent - AFCON - is set to get underway in Morocco from December 21 to January 18, with 24 nations competing for the coveted crown of African football. But of the lot, seven — Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast - will be hoping to hit two birds with one stone by using the tournament as preparation.

These seven teams will be eager to go all the way at AFCON - win the crown — and use that success as motivation and a signal of intent ahead of the global showpiece, which will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Mosimane, who was part of the 2010 World Cup on home soil as one of the assistant coaches to Carlos Alberto Parreira before taking over the reins afterwards, knows all about using one major tournament as a precursor for another.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the Pitso Mosimane Youth Football partnership with Chinese multinational appliance and electronics manufacturer Hisense, Mosimane shared his thoughts on the narrative.