Masinga, who is now working within the structures of SAFA, has warned football supporters against being drawn into the ‘common habit’ of demanding the removal of national team coaches whenever results do not go in favour of the country.
Amajimbos failed to go beyond the group stage of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile despite only needing to finish in the top three of their group.
In their three matches they registered a 1-1 draw against 10-man Korea DPR and lost their other two matches against Costa Rica 2-1 and Russia 2-0, all while squandering numerous chances in front of goal and conceding a penalty in every match.
Masinga tells snl24.com/kickoff that there are a lot of positives that can be drawn from Amajimbos’ participation at the World Cup.
“Just being part of the Under-17 World Cup is an achievement for any coach,” Masinga says.
“It would be too harsh for people now to be calling for the head of the coach. The same people were very happy when the team qualified so it was always going to be tough considering that we had qualified for the first time.
“The coach must be given a chance by the supporters to carry on with the work that he is doing.
“For the first time, our Under-17 team qualified for the World Cup and this experience will always benefit them in the long run because they are now more developed as players,” he adds.
“Going forward, our fans must be patient with Ntseki and the players will obviously now be aware of their mistakes.
“It is important not to disturb the coach’s vision because he is laying the groundwork for future stars, who might be part of the next Bafana Bafana teams.”