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Photo: Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane celebrates after winning the African Champions League (CAF), the final second leg soccer match between Zamalek and Sundowns Casablanca at Alexandria’s Borg Al Arab stadium.
What exactly did Egypt’s biggest club, Al Ahly, see in the South African coach who broke a century of history to hunt him down?
Pitso Mosimane is the first African non-Egyptian coach to lead Cairo’s Al Ahly in their illustrious 113-year history. El Al Ahly, who recently fired Swiss coach René Weiler, have so far only recruited coaches from Egypt or Europe.
That they were looking for a coach in the south, from a country that is hardly a force in continental club football, means they saw something extraordinary in Mosimane, 56. But what exactly made you break with a centuries-old tradition?
At a recent press conference, Al Ahly president Mahmoud El Khatib mentioned the coach’s character as one of the reasons they went for him. While some may consider him brash and arrogant, Mosimane, who played in Greece in the late 1980s and early 1990s, has the temperament that is lacking in South African soccer. For the Egyptians, football and religion are pursued with a passion that borders on radicalism. It is often a matter of life or even death.
The Cairo giants hold the CAF Champions League records, eight, and the CAF Super Cup, six.
Their fiercest rivals in continental soccer are Zamalek, from across town, and TP Mazembe, from Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The momentous nature of Mosimane’s move was underscored by a congratulatory message from President Cyril Ramaphosa. The president emphasized the political importance of Mosimane’s appointment and said that it will strengthen ties of friendship between the two countries on opposite ends of the continent.
Previously, South African coaches Trott Moloto, Mlungisi Ngubane, Shakes Mashaba and most recently Thabo Senong have trained outside the borders of Mzansi.
Moloto took over a job with Tanzanian giants Simba in 2005. Ngubane coached the Brave Warriors, Namibia’s national team, in 1998, and Mashaba guided Eswatini’s fortunes in 2008.
Senong, who previously coached the South African U-20 team, is currently the coach of the Lesotho senior team, Likuena.
Although the South African league, largely due to a multi-million dollar sponsorship, has been an importer of players and coaches from across the continent since the 1970s, it has not done so well in exporting its talent in the other direction.
Sundowns midfielder Phakamani Mahlambi became the first South African to play in the Egyptian Premier League in 2017 before returning to Tshwane’s team last year.
Pitso approaches the dream European job
Mosimane’s move to Egypt is crucial in several ways. Al Ahly is not just any club. And Egypt is a continental soccer powerhouse; their teams enjoy proximity and plenty of exposure to major European leagues, far more so than their South African peers. The Pharaohs, the country’s senior team, are ranked 51st in the latest FIFA rankings, 20 places more than the Bafana Bafana. Although some may not read much in the FIFA rankings, they are an important barometer of a nation’s footballing pedigree.
Mosimane is an ambitious ambitious who seems to be driven by the motto of his old club, “the sky is the limit”. After leading the Sundowns to five league titles and victories in the Champions League and the CAF Super Cup, it was time to move on and take on a bigger challenge.
Until Mosimane led the Sundowns to the continental title in 2016, South Africa, despite having one of the richest leagues in the world, had spent 15 years without continental glory.
Orlando Pirates was the first local club to win the CAF Champions League, in 1995, during what was probably the golden age of soccer in the country. Kaizer Chiefs followed with victory in the 2001 African Cup Winners’ Cup.
In South Africa, club football in the rest of Africa is generally seen as a minor inconvenience that consumes financially and interferes with the national program.
But in Egypt, continental club football is everything. And that fits well with Mosimane’s vision. During his tenure with the Sundowns, Mosimane always expressed a burning desire to become a force in continental soccer.
Joining Al Ahly gives you the opportunity to conquer Africa once again. If successful, it will undoubtedly reflect positively on South African football and may open doors for other talented local coaches to put their skills to the test beyond our borders.
Fanatic support
When Al Ahly faces rivals from Zamalek, the city of Cairo, home to more than 20 million people, comes to a virtual standstill. In the streets, fans fight each other, burn vehicles, and chase police and security guards. Dozens of lives have been lost in violence related to soccer matches. In the latest nasty incident of fan violence, more than 70 people were killed in a stampede during an Al Ahly game.
The Egyptians follow and play the game with heart, mind, body and soul. There is no middle ground. Unlike South Africa, where rival fans sit and sing together during derbies, Egypt is different. Either you are Al Ahly or Zamalek. Not both.
This is perhaps a characteristic that has made them a force to be reckoned with in African football at both club and international level. They may not be the most talented team, but their strict adherence to tactical discipline and mental toughness have given them the edge over the most glamorous opposition in South Africa and West Africa.
This is one of the reasons why Al Ahly chose Mosimane. In the games against them, Mosimane has shown the Egyptians and his Tunisian rivals that he is not easily intimidated. He has managed to transfer this energy and character to his Sundowns teams over the years.
It can be argued that while South African teams are talented and superior in ability, they often lack the mental toughness that has propelled Sundowns to become a force on the continent.
Mosimane has instilled a steely mental determination and professional focus in his players that has helped them easily deal with the mind games that North Africans are famous for.
Mosimane has been called South African Bill Shankly, the Liverpool manager whose passion for the game and his beloved Reds, along with his colorful and controversial dates and his will to win, were legendary. Shankly wasn’t content to be the best. He wanted to be the best of the best.
“If you are the first, you are the first. If you’re second, you’re nothing, ”Shankly once said. Mosimane also hates defeat, and his comments after a defeat sometimes border on a lack of sportsmanship.
Although Egyptians are passionate about the game, Mosimane would do well to see what it says there so that it is not seen by a fanatical and somewhat conservative public as an arrogant and disrespectful foreigner.
Mosimane’s time has come. What remains to be seen is whether he is the right man to take Al Ahly to the next level, as he declared after his enthusiastic welcome in Cairo.
If he succeeds at Al Ahly it will undoubtedly be a huge win and a boost for South African football, especially the local coaches. Is your departure good? No way. DM168
