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Pitso Mosimane laments over more Nigerian players in Europe than South Africa
By Monsurah Olatunji
South African coach, Pitso Mosimane has expressed his concern over the low number of players from his countries plying their trade in top European leagues, compared to Nigerian players and other West Africans.
Currently one of the best coaches on the continent, Mosimane has won three CAF Champions League titles with two different clubs.
According to him, South Africans once had representation in the top leagues but now the numbers are few and far between.
The 59-year-old believes that South Africa no longer produces players that match the market demands of European clubs as he explained why Nigeria has huge success in that regard.
“Look, it is a concern for me and I was banking on Lyle Foster and now look what happened (Burnley have been relegated to the Championship),” Mosimane said as per The Citizen.
“I was banking on Percy in the Premier League, the same way (Steven) Pienaar, Benni McCarthy, and Shaun Bartlett represented us, but we don’t have anybody now and it’s not nice.
“We need to have the right product and the right players. Did you hear what John Barnes said about South African players? He said that we have players but we don’t easily have the right type of player for the English Premier League but West Africa, especially Nigeria, has that type of player for the Premier League.”
