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The five-time PSL title-winning coach arrived in Egypt on Thursday to immediately begin work at his new club amid high expectations for him.
Former Mamelodi Sundowns manager Pitso Mosimane has admitted that he has inherited an Al Ahly team “strong enough” to win the Caf Champions League and also declared his intentions to emulate Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who He has won titles in different countries.
Mosimane resigned as Downs coach on Wednesday and was appointed Al Ahly coach the next day for his first coaching job outside of South Africa.
He came to Egypt with a brilliant resume that says five Premier Soccer League titles, a Caf Champions League crown and a Caf Super Cup as his greatest achievements.
The former Bafana tactician Bafana started work on Friday when he held his first training session ahead of Al Mokawloon’s reception on Sunday in an Egyptian Premier League match.
By his own admission, the inspiration to take on his new job came from Guardiola, who won three La Liga titles with Barcelona, so many Bundesliga crowns with Bayern Munich and guided City to the Premier’s champions podium. League twice.
“When you are a soccer coach, you are a professional business person,” Mosimane told Ahly’s television channel according to Al Ahram.
“If Pep Guardiola can leave Spain, go to Germany and then go to England, with different cultures and different languages, then why can’t I do the same? We are professionals and soccer is an international game. You follow football wherever you are, as long as it’s football ”.
He inherits a team Al Ahly that is at the top of the Egyptian Premier League standings with 15 points of advantage over the second-placed, the second-placed Zamalek, and has already been declared champion of the 2019/20 season.
With four league games remaining for the Red Devils, Mosimane is under pressure to maintain or extend his 15-point lead for prestige.
Al Ahly are also in the semi-finals of the Caf Champions League and face Wydad Casablanca, a team that became Mosimane’s nemesis during their Sundowns days.
Wydad was reportedly after the signing of former Bafana Bafana coach before Al Ahly stopped him.
Mosimane has high hopes of handing Al Ahly their first league title since 2013 when they beat the Orlando Pirates in the final.
“We need to see if the mentality is correct because the Champions League is the mentality, then there is the tactics, the technique and all those things,” Mosimane said.
“The team is strong enough to win the Champions League. If you go to the semi-final, you could also go to the final, it’s a step. And when you are in the final, you could also win it ”.
Mosimane will make history by becoming the first South African coach to take over two teams in a single Champions League season.
