Former South Africa head coach, Pitso Mitsomane, has denied ever declining the chance to coach the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Soccernet.ng reports.
The new Esteghlal FC manager was linked with the Super Eagles coaching role after Jose Peseiro’s contract with the three-time AFCON Champions expired towards the end of February.
Instead, the Nigeria Football Federation appointed Finidi George on an interim basis before the ex-Ajax man was given the job permanently in May. Sadly, he was fired about a month later.
Mitsomane has come out to clear the air about his links to the Super Eagles coaching role, claiming nothing concrete surfaced.
“I have to be honest I never said no the Super Eagles and nobody can easily say no the Super Eagles, that situation was there not there. It has to be on the table, sometimes when it’s not on the table you need not get excited and get the proper contact right and everything must be done right
Who would turn down the chance to coach the Super Eagles? it would have been a good one for me to be honest because I really wanted to do national team.
Who would not want to coach that front three playing in Napoli, playing Milan? I mean you can’t turn that down, but it was never really on the table from the office,” the 60-year-old said in quotes revealed by IOL.
Mosimane served as the caretaker coach of the Bafana Bafana for seven games in 2007, prior to the appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira as head coach of the national team, whom Mosimane served as an assistant coach under during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
He was appointed the head coach of the senior team in July 2010 and was handed a four year deal but he left for Mamelodi Sundowns in 2012.