Pitso Mosimane cut a confident figure when he held court at Chloorkop on Tuesday just after putting Mamelodi Sundowns through their paces as they prepare for the CAF Champions League final against Zamalek on Saturday.
The Brazilians will start at home in the first leg at Lucas Moripe Stadium at 3pm before travelling to Alexandria next week for the return leg in Egypt on Sunday at 8.30pm.
The training session wasn’t that intense because there are a number of players with small niggles while the side also doesn’t have the numbers as they have 30 players registered for the tournament.
In that 30, seven have left while Leonardo Castro is in Colombia. Yannick Zakri, who isn’t registered for the tournament because he is cup-tied, ended up also taking part in the session to give them a competitive edge.
Mosimane was in his element, cracking jokes and responding with his sharp wit leading up to the biggest game of his coaching life.
His carefree mood was in direct contract to that of the Zamalek coach Moamen Soliman. Soliman told Egyptian TV that he would resign from the post he has held since July, taking over from Mohamed Helmi who was sacked, should they lose the final. Soliman was supposed to only be the White Knight’s coach in the interim. But after he guided Zamalek to the Egypt Cup, at the expense of A-Ahly, he took over on a permanent basis.
If helping Zamalek win the domestic cup made him a hero, winning the Champions League would further elevate his status just like success in this competition would make Mosimane a cult figure in Chloorkop while he ticks off his biggest quest in coaching.
“I said it in my first interview when I arrived here (in 2012),” Mosimane said. “Why am I here?’ (The media asked me.) For the Champions League. Now we are in the final. You can’t take shortcuts to get here. This started a long time ago. Where have I held my pre-seasons? Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Namibia. Why? I said that I need to play in those countries, sit in those dressing rooms and play on those pitches. I needed to spend hours at the airport in transit, so that when you go for the Champions League you are used to it.
“You can’t compare this with the domestic cups that we have won. There are two big fishes, the league and the Champions League.”
Sundowns hold the big fish that is the league while they chase the Champions League. Zamalek on the other hand lost the league to their arch-rivals Al-Ahly.
They rescued their season by winning the Egypt Cup. Zamalek landed at OR Tambo International this morning, before transferring to Pretoria, as they look to add a sixth Champions League title to their name.
The Brazilians, who will be playing only for the second time in this tournament’s final (after 2001), are chasing their first continental triumph.
“This is the biggest game for me personally,” Mosimane said. “It’s also the biggest for the club and the players. Some of the players have never played in a bigger game than this. Only Kennedy (Mweene) has played in a bigger stage having won the Africa Cup of Nations with Zambia in 2012. For the rest of us, this is big.”
The Star