He is a much more experienced coach than the one who left the role 14 years ago and has gone on to become the most decorated tactician in the country’s history.
But that does not mean we cannot take pointers from history.
Mosimane's South Africa were extremely difficult to beat, excellent at protecting a lead and outstanding defensively, but frequently struggled to turn control and clean sheets into victories. That was ultimately his downfall the second time around.
Overall record
Mosimane took charge of 23 Bafana Bafana games across two spells, first as an interim coach ahead of the arrival of Carlos Alberto Parreira in 2007, and then after replacing the Brazilian following the 2010 World Cup. He had previously been an assistant coach to Parreira.
His sides won nine of those games for a 39.1% win rate, which is not that great. But they also drew 10 and lost only four, so Mosimane was unbeaten in 82.6% of his games, a much healthier statistic.
Tight at either end
Mosimane’s sides remarkably kept 17 clean sheets in those 23 games, which means they prevented the opposition from scoring in almost three out of every four matches.
But the flip side is they were not so hot in attack, failing to score in 10 matches and netting 17 times in 23 games in all (0.74 goals per game). They conceded only eight times.
It means there were just 25 goals in total across his 23 matches. Not a lot!
South Africa did not win a single game in which they conceded. All nine of Mosimane’s wins came with a clean sheet.
In the six games in which their opponents scored, they drew two and lost four.
In his first spell of seven games, South Africa conceded only one goal, but also scored just three.
Home vs Away
Mosimane took charge of 11 matches on home soil and won five to go with five draws and a single defeat, which was a 1-0 loss to the United States in November 2010.
There were nine games at the home of their opponents, of which three were won to go with four draws and two defeats.
Three games were played on neutral soil, with one win, one draw and one loss.
Competitive vs friendly
Mosimane was involved in 11 competitive matches and lost only one, keeping nine clean sheets. He won four but drew six. Again, the draws are the issue.
Bafana scored only seven goals in those 11 matches and conceded three. It has the feel of a ‘don’t lose’ rather than a ‘try to win’ approach, which will likely be different this time around.
The 12 friendly clashes therefore produced five wins, four draws and three defeats, with 10 goals scored and five conceded.
Going ahead
Bafana Bafana scored first on 10 occasions under Mosimane and won nine of those, an excellent record. Once ahead, they were tough to beat.
The lone exception was a friendly against Zimbabwe in 2011, where they went 1-0 up but lost the game 2-1.
However, when falling behind, they never won. His sides came back to draw twice and suffered three defeats. Eight of his matches ended 0-0.
Bafana led at half-time in eight matches and won seven, with the Zimbabwe game the anomaly.
They were level at the break on 11 occasions but won only two, drawing eight and losing one. When trailing at half-time, they drew two and lost two.
‘Killer’ in the box
One extraordinary statistic is that Katlego 'Killer' Mphela is the only player to have scored more than once under Mosimane. He netted seven times and was a key player for the coach.
All seven of his goals came in Mosimane’s second spell, when the team netted 14 times, so he scored exactly 50% of them.
The other 10 players to find the back of the net, all once, were Benson Mhlongo, Katlego Mashego, Aaron Mokoena, Bernard Parker, Davide Somma, Steven Pienaar, Siyabonga Sangweni, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Andile Jali and Bradley Grobler.
Regional wars
Bafana face two opponents from East Africa (Kenya and Eritrea) and one from West Africa (Guinea) in the upcoming 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
They are unbeaten under Mosimane against East African teams (P3 W2 D1 L0 GF4 GA1) and have a single loss against West African sides (P8 W3 D4 L1 GF8 GA3). That defeat was away to Niger.
The only one of their current AFCON qualifying opponents he has faced before is Kenya, which resulted in a 2-0 friendly victory.
Most used players
Winger Tshabalala appeared 17 times under Mosimane (15 starts), the most of any player.
The less likely figures of defender Morgan Gould (15 appearances) and Thanduyise Khuboni (14) make up the top three.
The late Anele Ngcongca, Itumeleng Khune, Pienaar and Mphela (all 12) are next on the list.
In Mosimane’s second spell of 16 games, Gould appeared in 15 of them, the most of any player.
Only eight players appeared for him in both spells: Mokoena, Mphela, Macbeth Sibaya, Siboniso Gaxa, Tshabalala, Siyabonga Nomvethe, Pienaar and Tsepo Masilela.
Across all 23 games, he used a whopping 94 different players.
