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Since he started his coaching career in 2001. ‘Jingles’ has only worked for three clubs: SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly.
Even before winning the Caf Champions League with Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016, current Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane had always made his ambitions to pursue his trade abroad clear.
As a player, Mosimane’s career took him to foreign countries such as Greece and Qatar, and as a coach, he has apparently always been one step ahead of many of his colleagues in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) with his global knowledge and perspective on the game.
While African footballers have become increasingly successful at some of Europe’s biggest clubs over the past 10-15 years, very few African coaches have had opportunities.
There have been numerous interviews with Mosimane over the years in which he has referenced this disparity, including these quotes from 2010:
“[Europeans] They come to Africa and produce their qualifications and work, but we cannot reverse the system and go there and work because we don’t have the necessary qualifications, ”he said.
“Some of the great teams and national teams in Africa are trained by Europeans with the great license that we as Africans do not have. You see how unfair that is.”
Mosimane has also spoken on several occasions about the importance of players advancing their careers abroad.
Al Ahly a springboard?
With great respect for the most successful club in Africa, one has to imagine that training in Egypt is not the final game for Mosimane, who would like to see himself on the biggest club stage, the Champions League in Europe.
And having won the treble with Al Ahly, as the club’s first black manager, and with two Caf Champions League titles under his belt, Mosimane doesn’t have much more to accomplish on this continent.
Just over four years ago, after winning the Champions League with Sundowns, he was ranked the 10th best manager in the world for 2016, according to the International Federation of Soccer History and Statistics.
Add to that his five record-breaking league titles in South Africa and his latest achievements in Egypt, the 56-year-old has a remarkable resume.
But perhaps what could really open the doors for Mosimane and what would certainly put him in the spotlight is whether he can perform on the international stage.
And the semi-final of the Club World Cup on Monday against one of the great giants of football, Bayern Munich, offers you exactly that.
It’s the kind of challenge that he would have been dreaming of for a long time, to test his managerial skills against the best in the world, while representing South Africa, Africa and the black coaches with pride.
A pioneer
Self-confidence, ambition, and a hunger to break down barriers can create a powerful combination, and these are traits Mosimane seems to have in abundance.
Therefore, it is appropriate that he look to former South African President Nelson Mandela for inspiration.
“Have you ever thought, in our time, that South Africa can have a black president like Nelson Mandela?” said the former coach of the Bafana Bafana in an interview with CNN. “That is an amazing story.”
“Can you believe that someone from the municipality like me, from the bottom of apartheid, from humble beginnings, can be the first person to win the Champions League in South Africa? And win it twice and become coach of the year on the continent? “
Despite his ambitions, Mosimane feels the odds are against him, but because he downplays his own chances, one still has the feeling that he would love to be the one to break the status quo.
“We have to be realistic to say that Europe does not have many African coaches,” he said in the same interview with CNN this week.
“I don’t want to politicize this and make it a case of playing the race card, but some things need to be told as they are.”
“I mean, you can’t tell me all these great players, African players, who won the Champions League in Europe, who live there and none of those Africans can get a chance to train.”
“Maybe in our children’s generation, things can change,” he continued, “things change, but first, Europe must accept and give opportunities to Europe-born Africans, before we can talk about having a chance as well. which is a long way. ” . “
