No bad blood between Bafana coach Ntseki and Chiefs’ Middendorp

Bafana Bafana coach, Molefi Ntseki has addressed the miscommunication between his team and Kaizer Chiefs coach, Ernst Middendorp who was unimpressed that they used Erick Mathoho for the Nelson Mandela Challenge math last month while he was said to be injured.

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But Molefi poured water into the matter saying he has a good relationship with Middendorp and it was probably just a little misunderstanding between the medical teams.

“I think people don’t know my relationship with coach Ernst Middendorp. We worked together at (Bloemfontein) Celtic. We’ve got a very good relationship and I think there was just a misunderstanding between his medical team, in terms of the report that was sent to our medical team.

“The report said Mathoho is ready; we rested him for two sessions when we were training here in Joburg, and then he joined the team and did very well,” said Ntseki.

The Bafana mentor also revealed that Middendorp was one of the coaches who had phoned him to wish him well before their game against Ghana on Thursday.

Middendorp also revealed that he didn’t have a problem with his players joining their respective national teams as he understood the importance of them helping their countries qualify for major tournaments.

“It it doesn’t matter whether it is Zambia, Nigeria or South Africa or the Under-23 players, it is all about qualification,” said Middendorp on Saturday.

He also advised Bafana that they will have to be ready for war when they meet the Black Stars.

“And going to Ghana I can tell you, if you have the Black Stars over there, it doesn’t matter in which town, you must be prepared. If you are not really prepared going into it, there is a problem,” he said.

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