Cape Town - Free State-born Morena Ramoreboli will make another attempt at COSAFA Cup glory after his triumphant stint as Bafana Bafana coach in 2021 when he was an 11th hour replacement for Covid-hit Helman Mkhalele.
Under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, Ramoreboli lifted the title without conceding a single goal in their six games. In the final, Bafana defeated Senegal on penalties.
In a surprise announcement, SAFA named Ramoreboli as coach for the upcoming Southern African region tournament in Durban next month. It was expected to be Mkhalele, who took care of the COSAFA Cup side last year. However, it has come to light that the former Bafana Bafana midfielder is not suitably qualified to sit on the bench for COSAFA Cup matches.
After Bafana's brilliant performance against World Cup semi-finalists Morrocco a few days ago, it was hoped that the national team will grab the chance to maintain a winning momentum by playing in the tournament under national coach Hugo Broos.
The contract of Broos makes provision for him to be excused from COSAFA Cup and CHAN tournaments and that's why Mkhalele was in charge last year.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs will again do their best to sabotage Bafana's attempts at COSAFA Cup glory by refusing to release their players. One source has revealed that Ramoreboli has started his selection process by recruiting from the ABC Motsepe League, the current second division and overall, third tier of South African football.
With no Premiership players to choose from, it could be a coaching job from hell, but Ramoreboli will grab the opportunity with both hands. He will be assisted by Raymond Mdaka, the Marumo Gallants caretaker coach.
Ramoreboli was in the media spotlight a few days ago after he won the Botswana Premier League title with Jwaneng Galaxy FC, the club he guided to the CAF Champions League last season.
The South African football fraternity were first alerted to Ramoreboli’s coaching ability after he led third-tier side Maluti FET College to a 4-1 victory over Soweto giants Orlando Pirates in the 2013 edition of the Nedbank Cup.
In subsequent years, he guided two semi-pro clubs to promotion to the GladAfrica Championship.
Ramoreboli's squad will have pool assignments against Namibia (July 5), Botswana (July 8) and eSwatini (July 11). There are four pools and only the top team in each pool will advance to the semi-finals.
@Herman_Gibbs
IOL Sport