Pitso Mosimane had three wins in three, a team full of confidence, and a 2-2 draw in front of his own people. Then came one question he did not want to hear.

Benni McCarthy’s Kenya hit Bafana Bafana with a late equaliser from Ryan Ogam, and afterwards the coach’s mood showed it. When a local journalist asked why Mbekezeli Mbokazi had started on the bench, Mosimane’s patience ran out.

Mbokazi was the returning defender Mosimane had praised earlier in the week as “a good boy, a good player”. But when the whistle blew, Olwethu Makhanya and Ime Okon were the centre-back pairing from the first two qualifiers, with Mbokazi among the substitutes.

“Ahh come on guys, you can’t go there,” Mosimane said.

“Come on, you don’t want me to lose my respect of you. You can’t go there.

“Now you choose who must play. So we lost because of that or we lost because we missed many chances? Come on.

“You can do better than what you’re saying, right?”

Then came the sarcasm. “It’s the right time to ask by the way, you are right…”

Mosimane’s point is not without evidence. Bafana took the lead through an own goal by Amos Wanjala, who sent the ball into his own net while trying to pass it back to his goalkeeper.

They also had around 71% of possession at one stage, but could not turn that into a cushion. Kenya, ranked 114th, hit back with a penalty before the break. Relebohile Mofokeng made it 2-1 to Bafana. But Kenya came back through Ogam’s late goal to take a point.

The two dropped points will sting. Bafana still lead Group D, but the gap to Kenya has shrunk to a point.

The return leg is in Nairobi on Tuesday, 17 November, and this time Mosimane’s decisions about who plays will be watched even closer.

Visit MDNtv YouTube Channel for our video content